Kunoichi Rumble
by seguha
Summary: Konoha is hosting an all Kunoichi tournament. Come and watch as tenten, sakura, ino, and Hinata fight to be the one on the top.
1. Chapter 1

_**Yawn.. summer has been so boring so far.. I haven't been able to do nuttin bcoz both my parents are working and I have to watch my bro! Hopefully your summers are better..all I've been doing is eating, watching tv, and reading fanfiction.. well maybe its not that bad.. anewayz…. I'm back with a new story here.. this one just popped in my mind last night and I just had to type it up… so enjoy… don't forget to review!**_

**TITLE: KUNOICHI RUMBLE**

**CHAPTER 1:**

It was a bright and sunny day in Konoha. The birds were chirping, people were bustling, and the sun shined with all its might. Nothing could ruin this day …

"**NANI!"**

Well… maybe except the loud- mouthed blond ninja of Konoha. (So why don't we head over his location at the moment.)

Well our journey brings us to the Godaime's office. If we take a good look we can see the entire rookie nine ( except Sasuke) and their sensei's as well as Gai's team.

" Naruto, yamero!" yelled Tsunade.

" Demo, Tsunade -obaasan !"

" Kuresai!"

" Nande? It's not fair!"

Tsunade quieted down for a minute and spoke again in a low, cool voice.

" Because that's the way the rules have been set with our neighboring countries."

Naruto just plopped down on the floor and began to pout.

" As if was saying, before I was rudely interrupted, Konoha is hosting an all kunoichi tournament. It is open to chunin only. The point of this tournament is to pick out the Kunoichi who is best for the job."

" What job?" asked Ino.

" Well we are looking for a strong kunoichi who is good in battle and can be trusted to carry important documents . But besides from that they must be sharp because they will need to extract a lot of information."

" Demo, hokage –sama , males are capable of doing the task as well as the females."

" Sodana Neji. Demo, we believe the kunoichi will be better suited for the job."

" What exactly is that job?" asked TenTen.

" You will be given two scrolls to deliver to Haruna-hime , princess of Nano country. The information encrypted in the scrolls provide information vital to her goals. But the problem is that we don't know how to decipher the information, so Haruna- hime and you will have to travel to the Stone Country to meet a man who will assist you , but he specifically requested we send a kunoichi."

The Godaime cleared her throat before she spoke again.

" But besides that, the winner will be rewarded various other things. One thing is a weapon set that includes any weapons a shinobi can dream of . Second you will get to have private training sessions with me and Jiraiya -sama for a month to hone your skills. And finally the winner will receive this golden raindrop pendant. It is said that the owner that wields this necklace will be rewarded with great powers in time of need."

Tenten's eyes lit up when she heard about the weapon set and the training with Tsunade.

Her dream was to become a great ninja like her when she first became a genin, after all.

But of course Sakura had already beaten her to it. She used to be her apprentice. Who knew what powers the girl had attained. She was sure she had gained many because the girl had trained continuously with practically everyone in the village.

First was Tsunade, then Gai, then her, then Kakashi. After that she just toned her skills with the others. And to think all that began after Sasuke had betrayed the village.

At times she envied the girl. She tried so hard to become stronger . She would always push herself past her limits until she couldn't move anymore.

Tenten turned back around the face the godaime, only to find she had a grimace look on her face.

" Dosda?"

" But of course these tournaments have their hardships. I have been asked to choose the kunoichi that I believe are ready for the tournament. Not all kunoichi are qualified. Listen up, and listen closely. This exam may be even more dangerous and deadly than the chunin exams."

A look of shock spread over the chunin's faces. The chunin exam had been brutal.

" It's very likely that some of you will die during this tournament. In the exams, you were in a three man cell. But this time, it's every kunoichi for themselves."

The shock on their faces grew wider, especially the girls, for they were the ones participating in it.

" I have thought this over for a long time. Tenten , Hinata , Ino, Sakura, I have chosen all four of you to participate in the tournament."

The four kunoichi cringed. They all knew this was going to happen.

" I believe that you are all ready for this challenge. This will be a televised event for the first two parts of the tournament. Then there will be spectators for the third part. Now, the tournament begins in two months so I would take this as preparation time . You are all dismissed."

" I have an idea," said Kakashi, " Since it is only 8am, why don't we all go out and start training you guys for the tournament. Each of you can go with the jounin in charge of you and train with your teammates.

" Sounds good!" Hinata, Tenten and Ino chorused together.

Kakashi turned to his student, the only one that hadn't answered yet. Her bumble gum bangs were covering her eyes and she was clenching her fist together.

" Sakura, does it sound good to you?"

Everyone turned to the kunoichi waiting for her answer. A second later , the kunoichi unclenched her fist and looked up with a bright smile on her face.

" Sounds good!"

" _Hell yeah!" chimed Inner Sakura._

Everyone was a little surprised by her actions. They hadn't seen her smile that like that in a long time. She hadn't smiled so brightly, well, since he left. She would always have a serious look on her face and would train all day long. Now that they looked at her , they couldn't help but notice how much she had really changed.

First, she had changed her look. She was no longer wearing that red dress she always had. Instead she wore a black halter top with the Haruno symbol on the back in white and black shorts. She had her legs bandaged from her knees down as well as her right arm. She also had bandages wrapped around her thigh for her kunai holster. Around her waist she always had a small pack that held her weapons and scrolls. Her forehead protector was still worn as a ribbon for her hair and she had a blue crystal necklace hanging on her neck. And finally on her left arm she had a purple diamond, much like the one inscribed on Tsunade's forehead, near her shoulders.

" Well, what are we waiting for?"

As soon as the words came out of her mouths everyone began to hurry out. She couldn't help but laugh at their antics. Just before she herself was about to leave, Tsunade confronted her. All she said was a few words before she turned her attention away from her.

" Sakura, don't worry. You will do well. I believe in you."

" Arigatou."

Sakura fell back hard on the ground completely exhausted. Her body felt numb and she couldn't move. Kakashi's training had pushed her past her limits just like she wanted it, She couldn't remember the last time he trained them like this.

The silver-haired jounin walked up to the girl and hoisted her on his shoulders. There was no way she was gonna make it home by herself. She could barely move. So he brought her to Naruto's instead.

" Good job today Sakura."

" Arigatou Kakashi –sensei."

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Two months flew by as the four girls trained endlessly, day after day. The day had finally come and they were already for what lay ahead of them. The tournament had finally begun.

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**_So what do you think? It might be a little boring because it mostly just explained what the tournament was. But its definitely gonna get better. Don't forget to review._**

**_Translations:_**

_**Yamero – stop**_

_**Demo – but**_

_**Kuresai- shut up**_

_**Nande-why**_

_**Sodana-that's right**_

_**Dosda- what's wrong**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hey everyone.. I'm here with my second installment of this story.. the tournament is beginning, or should I say already begun.. you decide.. anewayz on with the story.. don' t forget to read and review… also for those of you who read Hitori, chapter 2 is up..**_

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters or anything to do with it. But I do own some of the characters in this story.**

**TITLE: KUNOICHI RUMBLE**

**CHAPTER 2:**

Bells were ringing, televisions were buzzing, and no one was on the streets. Fireworks burst in the sky and many cheers could be heard. This only meant one thing, the tournament had begun.

Now, sitting in Kakashi's house, was of course Kakashi himself, Kurenai, Gai, Asuma, Lee, Neji, and the entire rookie nine except Sasuke, and the girls competing of course. They were all crowded around his television with snacks to watch the first portion of the tournament. Gai kept boasting that his Tenten would beat Sakura, but as always Kakashi never seemed to hear him and Gai would call him a formidable opponent.

Meanwhile, in front of the battle tower, stood all the participants of the tournament. They had just come from the battle arena where the opening ceremonies were held and the tournament would end. In total, there were 60 girls. They all seemed to have determined looks on their faces and were ready to tackle anything on their way. Standing in front of then was Anko. She was in charge for the first part of the tournament.

"Listen up you maggots!"

Everyone turned to give Anko their full attention.

" Today is part 1 of this tournament. If you are here today that means you are some of the best your country has to offer in battle. This is the chance to make them proud. In this tournament, to win, you will have to work your butt off. This is no easy task. Part 2 of the tournament will be held tomorrow. Now if you're ready I'll explain the first part of the tournament."

" Hai sensei!" also the girls said in unison.

"Good. I my math doesn't mistake me, there are 60 of you here. There's far too many."

"Nani? What's that suppose to mean?' asked Tenten.

Anko sighed. She thought that they would at least get that part.

" Okay, as we said in the third part we will have spectators. There will be many people from all over the country coming to watch you guys. We can't waste their time with so many pointless matches. They came to see the best of the best. So in reality, the first two parts of the tournament was made to cut down the number of competitors. Why do you think we were so careful about who we chose to participate. This is why."

" So what is our first task?" asked Sakura.

" Glad you ask. The first task is quite simple. It has to do with just intellect. Any simpleminded shinobi can accomplish this. After all, being a kunoichi is not just about having physical strength, but mental strength as well. That goes the same way for other shinobi as well."

Anko cleared for throat for a moment until she spoke up again.

" All you have to do is walk into the building and you'll get a door number. Behind those doors is a maze. All you have to do is make it through the maze is 5 minutes. Simple enough, right?"

Smiles spread across the faces of many contestants. Especially Sakura. She ruled when it came to intellect.

" Just one more thing, be careful, there will be many surprises waiting ahead of you into mazes. Never let your guard down. Now you each will be going in one at a time. I will call out your names. First up is Haruno Sakura."

" Soka. Right off the bat."

Sakura stepped out of the crowd with the girls giving her good luck wishes .

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Naruto jumped up in the air as he cheered for Sakura.

" Go Sakura! She'll dominate them all!"

Kakashi had a big grin on his face. He was sure she would be fine.

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Sakura entered threw the doors with a big grin on her face. She came face to face with Hayate.

" Long time no see Sakura."

" Same here."

" Door # 456."

"Arigatou."

Sakura positioned her self in front of the door as she waited for the signal.

" On the count of three, one, two, three, go!"

Sakura sped into the maze as Hayate let out a muffled cough. The first thing Sakura ran into a dead end. So she ran back out of the corridor and took a left. Sakura accidentally stepped on a wire which sent kunai and shuriken flying at her. She deflected them with a kunai of her own. On slightly grazed her right arm. But she ignored it and kept on going.

One minute had already past.

The Kunoichi ran until she came to a corridor which led to two directions. Left or right? _C'mon Sakura, concentrate dammnit!_ Going with the feeling in her gut, she ran right.

It was completely dark in there and she began to lose hope until she saw a light at the end of the tunnel. '_Hell yeah! We did it!'_ chimed Inner Sakura.

But to the girl's dismay as she ran outside to the light, she was still in the maze.

" Shimatta."

2 minutes had gone by now. So Sakura ran and ran until she tripped on herself. Sakura looked up to see where she was when she saw that She was in the exact same place she was two minute ago. Dammnit. Kuso! She only had one minute left. This could only mean one thing, Genjutsu.

So Sakura stood up and made a hand seal and yelled out the words "Kai! (dispel)" . In a few seconds the illusion disappeared and she saw a boy standing in front of her. Behind him, she could see the door which led out of the maze.

The boy smirked and summoned thousands of clones using his genjutsu. 30 seconds were remaining.

"Kuso!"

20 seconds remaining.

Sakura stood up and made a hand sign and yelled " Tajyuu Kage Bushin No Jutsu!"

Suddenly, thousands of Sakuras were in the made and they began to attack the boy's clones.

10 seconds remaining

Gathering all the speed she could, the Kunoichi ran past all the fighting and out the door.

She had made it with 2 seconds to spare.

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Naruto stared wide-eyed at the screen. He was glad she passed but also shocked.

" Kakashi –sensei, where'd she learn how to do that. I didn't teach her."

"I did."

" Ano, why didn't she ever use that in battle when she sparred with us."

"Correction Naruto," Neji explained, "She never used on you. She used it on us though. She said that she wanted to keep the moves she learned a secret from the people that could do it."

" Maybe she wanted to surprise you." said Kakashi.

Naruto took it as a plausible explanation and cheered.

" Sakura-chan passed the first task!"

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After Sakura received congrats from her friends, other girls went. Some failed and some passed. After them was Ino. She stood in front of door #23 and ran in as soon as she got the signal. She came to a first set of two ways and took a left. Then she came to another set and took the right. To her dismay she landed in a dead end. So she ran out and took the left. Two minutes had passed.

In her rush to make it to the end, she unexpectedly stepped on a booby trapped tile and has two spiked walls coming towards her to crush her. In a hurry, Ino brought Chakra to her feet and ran out of there like a maniac. To her relief only the tip of her dress got stuck to the wall and she cut that part off with a kunai. Another minute had passed. She had two minutes left.

Ino ran down another corridor, and took a right. After all, three lefts make a right. She ran down the corridor picking up speed. Another minute had passed. She was down to one minute. She picked up a little more speed and ran down faster. It sure was a long corridor. As she approached the end, she saw the exit. She happily ran through the door. She had made it with 30 seconds to spare.

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Finally it was Hinata's turn. She stood in front of door #168. On go, she sped into the maze. Surprisingly, she mad all the right turns and had two minutes left when she was in front of the corridor that les down to the door. But of course it was too good to be true. Kunai and shuriken were falling down on her from everywhere.

The kunoichi activated her byakugan and then used Hakkeshou: Kaiten. She began to spin her body like a top and expelled chakra from her body in a twisted sphere preventing the barrage of attacks from damaging her.

With 30 seconds remaining, the girl ran down to the exit and made it out with ten seconds to spare.

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Tenten stood in front of door # 456 waiting anxiously to go. She was the last one to go. Ino, Hinata, and Sakura all made it so she had to make it too. On go, the girl sped into the maze. At first she was having trouble because she ran into many dead ends but soon resolve that issue. 3 minutes had gone by; she had two minutes to go.

After a series of twists and turns, she could see the exit at the end of the corridor. She only had a minute left. As she ran, she absentmindedly stepped on a wire and she had two walls coming in to smash her. Being a little, Tenten took her wooden pole and stuck it in the middle. It held the walls temporarily but was about to give, so she ran. And she made it out just in time. Before Tenten took the exit, she made a note to get a new pole for herself. Then she exited the maze. She had made it with 5 seconds remaining on the clock.

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In the end, there were 30 girls remaining. The group had been cut in half. Anko congratulated them and told them to come at 2pm the next day and meet her in front of the forest of death. Then she dismissed all the contestants.

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The sun set down as the four Kunoichi walked to Kakashi's apartment to meet the others and celebrate. When they got there everyone congratulated them they celebrated with ramen.

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The four girls went home and plopped on their beds from exhaustion. As soon as they hit the soft mattress they fell asleep. Little did they know, but they had a long day ahead of them tomorrow.

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_**So what do you think? Good? Bad? Review and let me know?**_

_**Hai- yes**_

_**Nani- what**_

_**Kuso-shit**_

_**Shimatta- dammnit **_

_**arigatou- thank you**_

_**soka-I see**_

_**Until next time**_

_**(seguha)**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Yawn… so bored and tired.. so what else to do but update. .first I like to thank everyone who reviewed I love you all so much… I got 13 reviews just for the last chappy.. that's more than twice the reviews I got for the first and I just updated yesterday… I'm so happy… anewayz.. enough of my ranting…. Time to go on to the third installment of the story.. part two of the tournament.. just to warn you, this part of the tournament is a lot like the chunin exam.. and so is the third, but what else but fighting are ninjas gonna do in a tournament.. these next few chapters are very Sakura centric… since I'm so evil I'm gonna give her the hardest time in this damn tournament and let the others off easy.. also because I want to show her strength.. after all those people she trained with she has to be strong… that's what pisses me off about the show… Sakura says that's she gonna get stronger and she goes training with Tsunade and they still give her bad parts and bad battles.. she never gets any action, and she still gets saved.. then what was the point.. she doesn't get any action.. who cares that she's a medic, she's still a shinobi, she can fight. grr.. that's what I hate.. no offense to anyone, but a lot of anime writers are sexist… and notice how pretty a lot of them are men and how a guy created Naruto… see a pattern…k.. anewayz .. on to the story…**_

**DISCLAIMER: I ain't own Naruto or anything to do with it… but I own some of the characters or anything I make up here….**

**TITLE: KUNOICHI RUMBLE**

**CHAPTER 3:**

_**Task 2: day 1**_

The contestants eagerly lined up in front of the Forest of Death awaiting the arrival of their coordinator for this portion of the tournament. Boy did this place bring back memories, especially for a pink-haired kunoichi. This was where they had first met Orochimaru and the exact same place where that snake gave Sasuke his curse seal. She remembered that she also had to take care of her teammates and had failed miserably as well. Rock lee had to come save her, and so did countless others. That day she made a vow to never stay behind the lines again. She would no longer watch their backs from the sideline, this time they would watch her back.

But of course she failed again when it came to retrieving Sasuke. She failed miserably. She had said before she wasn't the same little girl she use to be but she couldn't prove that at all. So she went to train and today was her chance to prove to herself and everyone around her what she was capable of. She had made a sacred vow and she was going to keep it. After all she had faith in herself. She knew she was a lot stronger than before, after all she had surpassed the godaime in skill herself. She was one of the best ninja's Konoha had to offer. She could do this. She would not let everybody who worked so hard to get her where she was today down. She'd rather die.

Once again everybody was crowded around the television in Kakashi's apartment waiting for the event to begin. They were eager to see what surprises were in store for their fellow ninja today. In their opinion the first task was fairly easy. It didn't require much skill or knowledge, just a sense of direction. But they had a feeling the second task was a lot harder.

Poofing out of nowhere, right before the girls, was again Anko. Next to her were Kotetsu and Ibiki. Not that she was guessing, but Tenten was pretty sure Anko was the coordinator again. As she looked on, Kotetsu and Ibiki moved over to a booth in the middle of the field they were in and shut the curtains around the booth. Except in the front and took a seat. She turned her attention back to Anko who cleared her throat signaling that she was going to speak.

" Welcome back everybody. You maggots have made it to the second round of this tournament. Listen closely, because I assure you that these next few days your life will be a living hell."

This quickly took the attention of every competitor there and stunned them.

" What's that suppose to mean?" asked Ino nervously.

Anko place a smile on her lips. Actually, it was more like a smirk.

" I'll explain the rules of this round to you and then you'll see. Mina kitte kure!"

Everyone gave their ful1 attention to Anko as she spoke. She had scared half of them out of their wits.

" The rules are quite simple. All you have to do is find on of these."

Anko raise two scrolls in the air with everyone to see. One was pink with the kanji love on it and the other was black with the Kanji hate on it.

" Each of you will be given one of these scrolls in that booth and you'll have to find the other. They are hidden in various places in the forest behind me. It will be done in secrecy so no one knows which scroll you have. Remember, do not open the scrolls. This will test your ability to be trusted with secret documents. Unlike the exams, you're all on your own. Its every Kunoichi for them self."

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" **NANI!" **yelled Naruto practically jumping out of his seat.

" Calm down Naruto."

" Demo Kakashi-sensei, the last time we went in there we barely made it out alive and we were there as a team. And now Sakura-chan has to go in there alone."

" That time it was different, you were dealing with a greater evil. Orochimaru isn't probably gonna be here."

" Still, I have a bad feeling about this."

" Don't worry. Sakura will do fine. She's a lot stronger than before, after all I did personally train her."

" But what if.."

Kakashi cut in and said " Then we will take action."

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Anko held up a bunch of papers in her hand and pens as well.

" These are consent forms. It's possible that some of you will die here. This forest is filled with many dangers. We've even put in some of the best shinobi villages have in order to stop you. Plus many other traps and things of that sort. And don't forget, you have the people around you as well."

Anko gave the papers to one of the girls and told her to take one and pass them down. She did the same with the pens. She gave everyone 30 minutes to sign the consent sheet.

Soon everyone signed them and handed them in at the booth for their scroll. Sakura got the love scroll, Ino got the hate scroll, Hinata got the love scroll, and Tenten got the hate scroll. Then they gathered in front of the coordinator for the last announcement.

" You guys will have three days to complete this round of the exam. As soon as you get the scroll, come to your entrance gate and exit there. I wish you guys good luck and just one peace of advice, just don't die!"

An eerie aura filled the air as soon as the words came out of her mouth. Silence filled the air. Anko then dismissed them and told them to stand in front of their gates that they were assigned. Sakura stood in front of gate # 57. Ino stood in front of gate #23. Hinata had gate #3. Tenten got gate #15. Anko looked as the clock and told them to wait for her signal. As soon as the clock struck three , the gates flew open.

" Ike!"

And with that, everyone ran into the forest. Well except Sakura, she more like walked in. But nevertheless, she had a look of determination on her face. She could do this. So she ran and leapt into the trees.

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A girl with raven colored hair glided across the trees looking for scrolls. Unknown to her, she was on the branch of a tree with a trap underneath the one she was on. Making a severe mistake, she hopped down to that branch and she stepped on a trip wire.

All of a sudden she was trapped in a net and various weapons and shurikens were coming towards her. A huge scream escaped her lips and the last things she saw was blood splattered all over the place and then everything when black.

" **AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**

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Sakura turned around as soon as she heard the scream. She looked around frantically and saw birds rushing out of an area. This was just like during the exams. The exact same thing had happened. The say the truth, it scared the hell out of her.

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Hinata looked up a little startled by the scream. But what scared her the most was that she saw a slained body of one of the competitors in a net above her on a tree. On the tree next to it was the girl's hate scroll.

Walking cautiously, the girl passed the mangled body and made a grab the scroll hastily and ran out of there faster than you can say ninja. She was officially freaked but kept her cool. She ran out of her entrance gate to see that she wasn't the first one there. There was another girl there, who had already made it.

Anko was just standing there smirking. As soon as she heard the scream she knew that someone had just lost their life. It always happened like that. In fact, it was kind of similar to the exam the rookie nine had taken for the first time. She remembered the girl's faces for they had taken it a second time to pass. And now they were in this competition.

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Ino and Tenten had heard the scream and they were a bit terrified. They had met after entering the forest and decided to work together to retrieve their scrolls. They had gotten nowhere so far. The girls took a deep breath to clear the thoughts lingering in their mind and then hurried ahead. They had decided that it would be easier to challenge people for scrolls than to search for them.

After a mile or so, the girls came across another group of competitors that were working together. It was perfect, they could have 2on2 matches to get the scrolls. So they challenged the girls and they accepted.

Ino charged at one of the girls and delivered a blow to her face. The girls managed just to get away in time and came with a comeback punch at Ino who dodged it as well. Meanwhile, Tenten took out her wooden pole and charged at the other girl. The girl took out a kunai and charged at Tenten. They rendered eachother's attacks useless and clashed many times with their weapons.

Now, Ino had managed to catch the girl with strings that she infused with her chakra and held them down by her feet. Now it was her turn to attack.

"Shintenshin no Jutsu! ( Mind Transfer Technique)"

A moment later Ino awoke in the girls body. They had to finish this fast because her technique only lasted five minutes. Ino ran and rammed into the girl's partner and held her with a kunai to her neck.

" Give up. There's no escape. Even if my jutsu runs out , your friend will be knocked out and then you'll be outnumbered."

The girl, seeing that it was the most logical thing to do, gave up. So Ino tied the girl to a tree with chakra infused strings and then tossed Tenten both scrolls.

" Kai! ( dispel)."

A few seconds later, Ino awoke in her body and she and Tenten took the scrolls they needed and ran to their gates to exit. They saw Hinata as soon as they made it out and ran over to her. So Sakura was the only one that hadn't got out yet. So the girl's walked over to the giant screen television in the booth and began watching. They hoped she'd be out by nightfall.

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A girl with pitch black hair waited as she observed her surroundings. Just then she was approached by a female with silverfish hair.

" Did you find her?" asked the black haired girl in a creepy voice.

" I have."

"Good job. Ikuso!"

So the two sped off in the same direction together.

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The boys, except Naruto, jumped in glee seeing that their teammates had already made it out. Naruto just stared at the screen in concentration. Kakashi watched him intently.

" Naruto."

"Nani Kakashi-sensei?"

" She'll make it out, even if it is done in the last 5 seconds of this round. Besides, knowing you guys, you're always the last one out."

" Soka! C'mon Sakura-chan! You can do it!"

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Tuning out the frightening scream in her mind, Sakura began moving. She couldn't get distracted so easily. If she did, it'd be the end of her. It was true that she was a little paranoid but nonetheless she kept calm. Ugoke! Ugoke! Ugoke! That was all she told herself.

Soon she came across a clearing with a stream nearby. She stopped and knelt down in front of the stream and splashed water over her face. Then she took out a drinking pouch and filled. It could be useful for later. The water cooled her down a bit and lowered her ease. And yet at the same time she couldn't help but feel that something bad would happen.

So she hastily got up and began to move again. She picked up her speed as well. She halted in another area of the forest. Why you ask? Well she had sense a familiar chakra, another source of chakra as well. She was being followed.

Sakura pulled a kunai out of her holster and held it in her hands. She carefully scanned her surroundings with her green orbs. She felt movement behind her and turned around to find no one there. But on the floor was a kunai. Teme! They were playing her for a fool.

" Come out right now! I know you are there."

" Oh well, looks like she found us ."

Sakura turned around once more to find two people behind her. They looked like a few of the contestants. But then why did the chakra feel familiar? Something was definitely wrong? These guys had to be imposters.

" So your true forms!"

Suddenly the girl with the silverfish hair began to clap. Then let out a stifled laugh.

"My, aren't you smart."

" Who are you?"

" Why Sakura, don't you recognize who I am?" said the girl with the pitch black hair.

Sakura's eyes widened. The girl knew her name, so it had to be someone she knew. That's why the chakra signature was so familiar.

" Show yourselves."

" As you wish." They both said in unison.

And what she saw next shocked the hell out of her.

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Naruto stared at the screen and shouted a cheer when Sakura came on it. But then became speechless when they saw who was standing before her.

The girls looked in shock at the screen. Kotetsu and Ibiki quickly called over Anko as soon as they saw the picture before them. Anko quickly ran to the screen and was shocked by what she saw.

" Baka na!"

Then another startling surprise came. Two other jounin came back with what seemed like the girls that were being impersonated. They badly beaten and unconscious.

" This is bad! Inform Hokage-sama."

" Hai!"

With that the jounin dissapeared. Ibiki asked Anko what they should do and she said nothing. They would wait for the godaime's orders."

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Sakura couldn't believe the sight before her. How could this have happened?

" What's the matter Sakura, surprised?"

Sakura just stood there without answering. She was speechless.

" Baka na!"

How this could have happened was beyond her. Standing right before her was Sasuke and Kabuto. Sasuke was wearing a light blue yakata and had a sheath on his back. Kabuto was in his regular purple uniform he always wore. The kunoichi pinched herself to see if this was real, and to her dismay found out that it was indeed happening.

" Why are you here?"

Kabuto just chuckled at her and then fixed his glasses. He had a smirk on his face.

" Sasuke-kun, the girl still seems to be trembling. How pathetic."

Sakura looked down to see that her hand, which held the kunai, was trembling. Sakura took her other hand and held her trembling hand to stop it from shaking.

" Sakura, calm down. We're not here to fight," said Sasuke.

"We merely have a proposition for you Sakura-san." finished Kabuto.

" A proposition?"

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The two jounin ran into the godaime's office to see her looking at the television observing what was going on at the minute.

" I know what's going on already. I've alerted Anko to stay in place and do nothing. They didn't come here to fight. Just watch."

" Hai!"

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Kakashi, Kurenai, Gai, and Asuma watched in worry. What were those two trying to pull? They had been informed to stay put by the godaime and not do anything. Naruto began to boil up.

" If they even touch one hair on her, I will never forgive them!"

" Oi Naruto calm down! Sheesh.. this is so troublesome. The godaime said to stay put."

After hearing that Naruto calmed down a little. He couldn't defy those orders.

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Anko, Ibiki, and Kotetsu, as well as the girls stared helplessly at the screen. They knew that they couldn't do anything even if they wanted to. Anko slammed her fist on the table.

Damn that Orochimaru! This was definitely his work. Why did he send them? What surprised her most was that he didn't come himself. But why?

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" Nani? What proposition?"

Kabuto walked closer to the kunoichi as Sasuke stayed behind. When he was in a range of 5 feet from her , Sakura dropped her kunai and began to collect chakra in her palm and that produced a lightning of some sort in her hand that sounded like birds chirping. Sasuke stared in shock. Could it be? But how did she learn it?

" Come any closer and I assure you that one of us will die here."

Kabuto merely smirked and stopped. He remained in a calm posture.

" As I was saying, we're here to make a deal. Orochimaru wants you to heal his arms, after all, you were Tsunade's apprentice. I heard that you surpassed her in skill. That baka wouldn't do it, so now, your our only shot. And in return, Orochimaru will remove the curse seal and give your Sasuke-kun back to you."

Sasuke grunted from behind. He clearly didn't approve of this deal.

" So what do you say Sakura-san?"

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Tsunade watched in shock. That bastard! He had done the same thing to her. He promised her Nawaki and Dan back , but she refused. There was no way she could trust a snake like him.

" What will he do if I heal his arms?" asked Sakura in a timid voice.

" To tell you the truth, he will destroy Konoha."

Sakura stood there with chidori still in hand and seemed to be thinking over the proposition.

" So what's your answer Sakura-san?"

Sakura put her hand down for a moment and stared at the ground.

" No."

"Pardon?"

Sakura looked up at Kabuto and he was taken back. The fear in her eyes had been replaced with determination.

" No! I won't heal his arms."

" Now Sakura-san , we were hoping you wouldn't have to say that."

"Or else what?"

" We'll have to take you by force."

" Nani?"

Kabuto came charging towards the Kunoichi. Sakura let go of her chidori and dodged barely missing the attack. Then she came back with a roundhouse kick. Kabuto blocked it and countered with an uppercut which Sakura managed to block as well.

" I see you have improved since the last time we met."

" I'm warning you now. Don't underestimate me. I'm not the same girl I used to be."

"So deska?"

Then Kabuto came charging at the kunoichi again. This time he actually hit the girl with a front kick and punch combo. But to his dismay, he found a log in her place.

" Kawarimi. That old trick."

Kabuto scanned his surroundings contemplating the girl's attack. She didn't seem to be anywhere in sight. Then suddenly Sakura jumped out the ground below him and grabs his legs and pulled him underground. Only his head was visible. Then Sakura leaped out of the ground and began yelling.

" Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu success."

Sasuke stared at his former teammate, his eyes twitching like a maniac. She must have been spending too much time with Kakashi. He remembered when his sensei had used it against him in the exercise with the bells.

Kakashi laughed a nervous laugh as everyone stared at him, especially Naruto. What had he taught their poor Sakura?

Kabuto just looked at Sakura full of embarrassment. She was going to pay for this. Sakura had a huge smirk on her face and then he touched the ground with her index finger. A second later the whole ground around Kabuto began to crumble and trees began to fall.

Taking advantage of this, Sakura picked up Kabuto and threw him in the air . Then she delivered a blow to his stomach which sent him crashing into Sasuke. The Uchiha was now mad. At first he was surprised that she was capable of this, but not anymore.

He stood up with the Sharingan in his eyes. He glared at the kunoichi. Kabuto got up beside him with a smirk on his face.

" Now your going to pay."

Then both of them began charging at her.

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" This is bad! Anko, Ibiki! Get in there now. Kotetsu watch the contestants already outside." Tsunade frantically screamed.

How could this situation have gotten so bad? Then she called Gai and Kakashi and told them to go there as well.

As soon as they heard that, the two jounin dropped the phone and ran like maniacs.

Naruto sat there hoping that everything would be all right.

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As the two charged towards her, Sakura did the one thing that came to her mind.

" Tajyuu Kage Bushin No Jutsu!"

Suddenly thousands of Sakuras appeared. The two ninja stopped in their tracks.

'This is Naruto's move! When did she learn it?' thought Sasuke.

So the two ninja began to fight the clones destroying them one by one. By the time they had got down to the last one, the sun had already set. Kabuto went to attack the last one and to his dismay discovered that it was a clone.

" Kuso! Sakura where are you hiding!" yelled Sasuke.

It surprised both of them with how much she improved. She had said that she was a changed girl many times, but this time she actually proved it. It had been 5 years since he left. How could the girl have changed so much in so little time?

" Just in case your wondering, hard work is the key to my success. Hard work can beat talent any day."

The guys turned around to see Sakura in a fighting stance.

' She's fast!' they both thought.

Sasuke placed a smirk on his lips. He never thought he'd say this about her, but he actually wanted a piece of action with her. Without a word, he charged at with a jab, but she blocked it and delivered a roundhouse kick, which Sasuke blocked as well. They broke apart their distance even further and came charging at eachother. They constantly clashed and cancelled out eachother's attacks. At one point they were dead even. Then they broke apart.

" You surprised me Sakura. I thought that you would be afraid to fight me."

"I told you already, I'm not the same girl I used to be."

Sasuke did a few hand signs . As soon as Sakura saw them, she knew what was coming.

" Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu !"

The Uchiha breathed out a huge ball of fire in Sakura's direction. The kunoichi managed to dodge it , but in her haste had dropped all her shuriken . they were completely melted by his attack.

" Shimmatta!"

Sasuke just smirked and did more hand seals. Sakura was able to recognize the move too.

" Katon: Housenka !"

This time Sasuke sent balls of fire at her, which she managed to dodge as well. Just then shuriken hidden in the flames came towards her.

" Kuso!"

Because of her late reaction to dodge, she got hit with 5 of them out of the 8. One was lodged in each of her arms, one was lodged on each of her legs, and the last one was lodged on her shoulder.

Sasuke smirked. He had finally launched an attack at her. Then he came in with a jumping sidekick, which sent Sakura flying until she hit a tree and fell to the ground.

The kunoichi slowly got up and remove the shuriken from her body dropping them on the ground. Blood drops were falling everywhere. Kabuto smirked.

As he was about to go in for an attack, he heard people calling Sakura's name.

" Shimatta! Ikuso!" Sasuke yelled at Kabuto.

" Hai!"

Then the two poofed themselves away. A minute later, Ibiki, Anko, Kakashi, and Gai showed up. Sakura dropped to the ground in relief.

" Sakura daijobou?" Kakashi asked as he ran towards his students.

" Daijobou."

" Sakura," Anko began, " Where did they go?"

" I don't know."

"Shimatta."

Then Anko reported what had happened to the godaime. Meanwhile, Ibiki came over and cleaned and bandaged her wounds with the supplies she had earlier. The bleeding had stopped.

By now it was pitch black outside, and the moon shined brightly. All the other competitors were already resting. Kotetsu sent the ones that completed the task home. He told them to come back on the third day.

The girls ran to Kakashi's apartment to see if the others saw what happened. They were all relieved when those two left. Especially Naruto. By now the television had been turned off since the broadcast was over. They all waited quietly waiting for the others to come back.

Meanwhile, back in the forest, everyone was checking up on the Sakura and the scene of the fight. After a half an hour or so, they escorted Sakura to another area of the forest and helped her set up for the night and catch dinner. Then they left her to report back.

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Sakura plopped down on the ground exhausted and confused by what happened to her today. After pondering on it for a little while, she dozed off.

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_**Task 2: End of day 1**_

_**So what do you think? Was it good or bad? Please review and let me know! Damn this was the longest chapter I have ever written. I need to rest my fingers. This chapter took a long time to make.. a few hours.. I stated this morning at 11 and ended it near 5:30.**_

_**I had to think it over very carefully….**_

_**Mina kitte kure – everyone listen up**_

_**Ike-go**_

_**Daijobou- I'm okay /are you okay (depend s on context)**_

_**Shimatta –dammnit**_

_**Kuso-shit**_

_**Demo-but**_

_**Nani-what**_

_**Ikuso -let's go**_

_**Baka na- it can't be**_

_**Hai-yes**_

**_so deska - is that so?_**

**_soka- i see_**

_**Until next time**_

_**( seguha)**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hey everyone! Here with the next chapter of this tournament! So what did you guys think of the last chapter? Longest I've ever written… thanks to all those who reviewed…by the way.. I have a new story called sadness and sorrow… plz check it out and leave comments… I luv u guys… now on with the chapter…**_

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto…. Yeah.. that's it…..**

**TITLE: KUNOICHI RUMBLE**

**CHAPTER 4 :**

_**Task 2 : Day 2**_

Cupping her hands full of water, she splashed it in her face and ran her wet fingers through her pink tresses a few times. She let out a long sight and scooped up another handful of water and repeated the process. She couldn't help but replay the scenes in her mind from last night.

**FlashBlack**:

**Sakura couldn't believe the sight before her. How could this have happened?**

" **What's the matter Sakura, surprised?"**

**Sakura just stood there without answering. She was speechless.**

" **Baka na!"**

**How this could have happened was beyond her. Standing right before her was Sasuke and Kabuto. Sasuke was wearing a light blue yakata and had a sheath on his back. Kabuto was in his regular purple uniform he always wore. The kunoichi pinched herself to see if this was real, and to her dismay found out that it was indeed happening.**

" **Why are you here?"**

**Kabuto just chuckled at her and then fixed his glasses. He had a smirk on his face.**

" **Sasuke-kun, the girl still seems to be trembling. How pathetic."**

**Sakura looked down to see that her hand, which held the kunai, was trembling. Sakura took her other hand and held her trembling hand to stop it from shaking.**

" **Sakura, calm down. We're not here to fight," said Sasuke.**

"**We merely have a proposition for you Sakura-san." finished Kabuto.**

" **A proposition?"**

" **Nani? What proposition?"**

**Kabuto walked closer to the kunoichi as Sasuke stayed behind. When he was in a range of 5 feet from her , Sakura dropped her kunai and began to collect chakra in her palm and that produced a lightning of some sort in her hand that sounded like birds chirping. Sasuke stared in shock. Could it be? But how did she learn it?**

" **Come any closer and I assure you that one of us will die here."**

**Kabuto merely smirked and stopped. He remained in a calm posture.**

" **As I was saying, we're here to make a deal. Orochimaru wants you to heal his arms, after all, you were Tsunade's apprentice. I heard that you surpassed her in skill. That baka wouldn't do it, so now, you're our only shot. And in return, Orochimaru will remove the curse seal and give your Sasuke-kun back to you."**

**Sasuke grunted from behind. He clearly didn't approve of this deal.**

" **So what do you say Sakura-san?"**

" **What will he do if I heal his arms?" asked Sakura in a timid voice.**

" **To tell you the truth, he will destroy Konoha."**

**End Flashback**

Was that Orochimaru's true purpose? But why didn't he show up himself? Sakura shook the thought away and stood up. She couldn't sit her all day thinking about this. She had to get the other scroll. Looking at her condition, she judged that it wasn't that bad. The only thing really visible was her burn hand. Then she remembered:

**FLASHBACK:**

**Kabuto walked closer to the kunoichi as Sasuke stayed behind. When he was in a range of 5 feet from her , Sakura dropped her kunai and began to collect chakra in her palm and that produced a lightning of some sort in her hand that sounded like birds chirping. Sasuke stared in shock. Could it be? But how did she learn it?**

" **Come any closer and I assure you that one of us will die here."**

**EnD FLaSHBacK**

What had she been thinking? She must have been out of her mind when she did that. One of us will die here… she shook it off. Sakura bandaged her hand and then she set off into the forest. She hopped from tree to tree keeping a steady pace.

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Kakashi and Gai plopped on the couch and sighed. None of them had gotten any sleep last night after what happened. They were relieved that Sakura was doing okay. She didn't seem to be that out of it.

The two jounin stared at the screen with everyone crowding around them. They were all anxious and tense after what had happened. The girls were huddled in the corner praying that she would make it out alive. Naruto was squeezing the death out of the cushion in his hand. That teme.. the nerve he had to do what he just did.

" Only two days left." said Kurenai.

" We can only hope for the best." replied Gai.

Kakashi just sighed. What had this tournament turned into? He wondered what the godaime was doing about this.

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Anko and Ibiki stood stationed in front of godaime. The women seemed to be deep in thought. The other two were anxious for an answer. Finally the godaime cleared her throat to speak.

" We will let the tournament continue."

" Nani? Demo, Hokage- sama!"

" Calm down Anko. If we stop it, we'll be doing exactly what he wants us too. So for now we play it out. If there is any real potential danger involved, then we will stop the tournament."

" Demo.. bokurimashta."

Then they both poofed away and reappeared in front of the game site. They saw Kotetsu with a few more girls that had passed. He saw them and walked over to ask what happened.

" It's a long story." said Anko.

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Sakura continued moving from tree to tree. She had been traveling for half an hour and still found nothing. She couldn't sense any chakra signatures or see any foreign objects. It was awfully quiet as well.

A second later she sensed a person behind her. When she turned around she saw no one there. Could this culprit be a shinobi? It was likely. Suddenly Sakura felt a sharp jab on her side and then a blow to her stomach. The hit had contained so much power that it caused her to hit a huge tree and brought it down with her.

Sakura sat up on her knees and wiped away a trail of blood running down the side of her mouth. Shimatta! She had let her guard down and now she was paying for it. When she tried to stand up, she was met with a shooting pain in her leg. She fell down on her knees again. But she wasn't about to give up. She got up once again ignoring the pain. When she looked down, she saw a kunai embedded in her thigh.

Nani? When had he done this? She didn't even feel it. She quickly grabbed a kunai of her own and scanned the area with her green orbs. Where did he go?

" Behind you!"

"Nani!"

Sakura barely had a chance to escape as a barrage of kunai and shuriken were directed at her. She moved out of the way but was hit in several places. A lot of them hit her back.

Kuso! This was not good. What was wrong with her? Why was she having such a hard time today? When she was questioning her motives, the shinobi came charging after her and took out his sword getting ready to smash it into her head. Sakura dodged it but lost her footing and fell down.

This was not going well. Not well at all. She was losing a lot of blood and could barely get away from his attacks. She couldn't even heal herself. Dammnit! What the hell was she doing? She was a lot stronger than this!

Before she even knew it, the shinobi picked her up and held the blade of his sword to her neck. His breath ran down the side of her neck making her shiver as he whispered something in to her air.

" I hope your ready to die, but your done for."

As much as she tried to do something she couldn't. her mind was telling her to go, but her body wouldn't move. So Sakura just closed her eyes waiting for the end. But it never came. In the blink of an eye, she saw flames shooting to the shinobi and he quickly dropped her to escape from the attack. She could barely keep her eyes open as she saw a blurry figure show up. It seemed to a female.

Sakura closed her eyes for a second and hear a shrilling scream. It had come from the man. When she opened her eyes she saw the man laying dead in front of her. Just as the other figure came towards her, she blacked out.

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" Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled.

" Who's that girl?" asked Kiba.

" It looks like one of the contestants." answered Ino.

Naruto was now hugging the television and crying. Everyone sighed.

" Naruto, calm down. She'll be okay. I'm pretty sure the girl came to assist her."

" Kakashi-sensei! This is not fair! Sakura-chan is in major trouble and I can't help her."

" I don't think she'd want you to."

"Nani?"

" Let's just say she has something to prove. I'm sure you understand."

Naruto just sat staring for a minute, until a thought occurred in his mind.

**FLASHBACK**

**Naruto sat on the bed with a frown on his face. He had failed to bring him back this time but he would keep his promise to Sakura-chan no matter what. He looked up at the frowning girl before he spoke.**

" **Sakura-chan! I promise you that next time I will bring Sasuke back. I never go back on my promise. That's my way of ninja."**

**A smile spread across the girl lips and she seemed to be in thought for a moment.**

" **No. Next time we will bring him back together."**

**Then the girl exited the hospital room leaving a somewhat enthusiastic and confusedNaruto behind.**

**END FLASHBACK**

" I understand Kakashi-sensei."

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Sakura woke up once again to find the sun shining in her face. She sat up and was met with a small pain in her back but did not lie back sown. She looked at her surroundings. Next to her were her belongings and besides that were the belongings of another person.

In front of her was a small fire which had a few fish frying . Behind her was a bag of medical supplies. Then Sakura took a good look at herself. She now had several bandages on her and her wounds had been clean and disinfected. On her other side, she saw the weapons that had been embedded in her body.

She had no idea where she was and who bought her here. She just had to wait and find out. A few minutes later, a girl came walking out of the bushes into the clearing where she was. She had a bucket full of water in her hand and a rag hung on the handle. The girl had on dark blue shorts with a kunai holster on her right. She also had a dark blue tank top covered by a light blue vest which was slightly opened. And she had her headband on her forehead. It had the hour glass on it which meant she was from the sand village. And her long red hair was tied up in a high pony tail which went to her left side.

When she saw that Sakura was awake she ran over and set the bucket full of water down.

" How long have you been awake?"

" I woke up a few minutes ago."

" Soka. Um … if you don't mind, I like to clean your wounds."

" Sure."

So the girl washed the wounds and rebandaged everything.

" There you go ! All done!"

Then the girl bought Sakura some of the fried fish and green tea she boiled.

" Here you go. You need to eat. It will help you get better."

" Arigatou."

The girl also got some for herself and they ate in silence. Afterwards she washed up. Then she sat down in front of Sakura.

" What's your name?"

" Haruno Sakura."

" Watashi wa Rin."

" Nice to meet you."

" So how are you feeling?"

" I'm fine thanks to you. You saved me back there."

" It was nothing."

" How can I repay you?"

" Just promise me that you'll make it to the third portion of this tournament."

" It's a deal."

Then the girls shook hands on it and Sakura got ready to leave. She saw Rin head back .

" Where are you going?"

" I have already retrieved both scrolls."

Oh.. that was why… Sakura just smiled and finished packing up her things. Rin wished her good luck and sped off. As soon as she finished, Sakura headed off. She was running out of time quickly. This was not good. The sun was going to set in a few hours. She had to move. Ignoring the pain, she kept on moving.

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Rin made it out of the forest and handed in her to scrolls. Then she looked back into the forest and sighed. She walked over to the television screen to watch.

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The sun was setting as the kunoichi kept on pushing herself forward. She decided to pick up the speed. In doing so, she lost her balance and fell of the branch. She quickly grabbed another branch and gripped in tightly. Then she sighed in relief. She got down from the tree and walked slowly ahead. She had to set up for the night soon. She had wasted too much time resting and now she had to work her butt off to get the scroll tomorrow. But she knew she could do it. She wasn't about to give up. Afterall she had made a promise and she was going to keep it.

After walking for a little while, the sun had went down, so Sakura found a nice clearing where she could relax. Then she set up for the night. Soon she drifted off to sleep. She had a long day ahead of her. She wasn't going to freeze up anymore like she had done in the last fight. She was going to make it. Afterall, she was a survivor.

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The television was turned off after all the contestants had set up for the night. They would have to wait until tomorrow to see what would happen. The girls as well the jounin had to be there tomorrow.

The contestants including Rin headed home to relax. They all had to be there tomorrow as well. Rin hoped and prayed that Sakura would make it. She had to.

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Sasuke and Kabuto stood in front of their master. Kabuto adjusted his glasses while Sasuke glared at the snake-like fiend.

" You two have failed me."

" Gomen Orochimaru –sama."

" No problem. We will strike again. But this time you better not fail."

" We won't. Right Sasuke-kun?"

" Hn."

" Good. We will strike again after the tournament, where the girl will have to carry out her duties. I'm sure she will win. We will use that chance to grab her."

" Hai."

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Sakura woke up covered in sweat. She had a bad feeling about something, but didn't know what. She looked around to find no one there. She sighed and lied back down.

After pondering for a few minutes the girl became anxious of what might happen tomorrow. But she shook it way and tried to get some sleep. She would need it tomorrow.

_**Task 2: End of day 2**_

**_--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_**

_**So what do you think. Please review and let me know. Don't forget to check out my new story as well.. thx**_

_**Bokurimashta- I understand**_

**_Watashi wa - I am_**

_**If you need the others, just look back in the other chapters**_

_**Until next time**_

_**( Seguha)**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hey everyone… how you doing… thx a lot for the reviews…. I haven't updated this one in a while… busy updating my other ones…… so without any other wait... here is the next installment of the series…**_

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto… there… you happy?**

**TITLE: KUNOICHI RUMBLE**

**CHAPTER 5:**

_**Task 2: Day 3**_

This was it. If she didn't get a scroll by three o'clock today she was done for good. Sakura shook her head and continued to jump from tree to tree. Despite all the odds being against her, she still had to make it. She made a promise to Rin and she was going to keep it. But more importantly she would make it to prove to herself that she was no longer the little weak girl she used to be. The best of the best were here and she needed to beat to prove that she was the best she could be.

Sakura clenched her fists and picked up her speed. She had already been traveling for over and hour and hadn't encountered a single thing.

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

All of our favorite chunin were now sitting in front of the television in Kakashi's apartment watching. But the three girls and their senseis were not present. They all had to go to certain sights for the tournament.

Naruto sat in front of the television and began to pray that Sakura would make it. Tenten, Ino, and Hinata had made it, and she would too. Afterall, as Kakashi said, Sakura didn't like to lose. She was just like him.

Naruto sighed and concentrated on the television. He could only hope for the best.

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

Sakura stopped for a moment and began to clutch her shoulders. Her body had been aching terribly since last night and it seemed to have gotten worse. Her shoulder was bothering her the most.

Sakura's hand began to glow green and she put it on her right shoulder. When the pain began to ease a bit, she stopped and began to move again.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

A girl with violet-blue hair was traveling around a forest clearing. She was frustrated because she had been traveling all night long and still found nothing.

The girl searched for about another hour and began to lose hope. She felt as though she would never make it out. Then an idea hit her. She took out her scroll and grinned. If she opened the scroll, she could maybe get some clues to find the other one. This was only hope.

The girl gulped and began to carefully open the scroll. At first she hesitated a bit and then she continued when she opened the scroll halfway……..

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Sakura quickly turned around as soon as she heard the scream. Heck, she almost fell off the tree.

'What was that?' she thought.

Sakura had officially been spooked for the second time in the tournament. Just thinking about it sent shivers down her spine. Sakura quickly discarded her thoughts and began to move again.

After a while Sakura decided to take a five minute break. It seemed as though the more she moved, the more it hurt. But losing here was not an option. Pain was part of the game.

Sakura started moving again a few minutes later. She glanced at her watch and saw that it was already 12 o'clock. Damn. She only had three hours left. She picked up her pace again.

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

Neji glanced at the clock and looked back at the screen.

"Only three hours to go."

Frankly, everyone was a little bored. There wasn't a lot going on today. Most of the contestants were already out. But they were able to see what happened to the girl when she opened her scroll.

When the scroll was opened, a sleeping jutsu would we summoned, and it would knock you out for the rest of the tournament.

"How troublesome. There is no word from that girl yet."

"Don't worry she'll make it." retorted Naruto.

"How troublesome. What makes you so sure?"

"Because she doesn't like to lose. Even if it's the last second, she'll make it out."

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Tenten began to pace back and forth. Ino was patiently sitting down and waiting, while Hinata was dwindling her fingers. They were all worried about Sakura. Why was she taking so long?

A lot of the contestants had already got out, but she was not among them. Damn it! She'd better not let them down. She had to make it.

Cheering was heard from some girls as another kunoichi merged form her gate. The three girls just frowned and walked over to the television in the booth and watched.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Dammnit! Another hour had already passed. She had gotten nowhere. Could this day have gotten any worse? Those crazy examiners! They must have given her the worse gate in the world. She just kept on going further and further but found nothing.

Suddenly a kunai whizzed past her face startling her. Sakura quickly readied a kunai herself and looked around but saw nothing. So she traveled in the direction the kunai came form and came upon a battle.

Both girls were fighting for eachother's scrolls. The black haired girl had a hate scroll while the blue haired girl had a love scroll. And from the looks of it, the blue-haired girl was winning. In the end, she had ending up winning as well.

The girl began to walk towards another clearing and Sakura quietly followed her in the trees. When the girl got there, she stopped and opened her pouch to put in the scrolls.

Sakura was surprised at what she saw. Her pouch was full of the scrolls. Sakura assumed that she was a collector. And her suspicions were confirmed when the she faced another challenger and won their scroll.

This girl may have been her only chance. She could verse her for a hate scroll.

After the girl placed the scroll in her pouch she began to move. She must have really wanted to eliminate a lot of the people. Sakura followed closely behind for a while until the girl decided to stop and rest.

Sakura jumped down in front of the girl from her position in the trees.

"I was waiting for you to come out."

Sakura smirked.

"So you knew I was following you?"

"Of course. I'm a shinobi aren't I?"

"I want to verse you for a hate scroll."

"Fine by me.'

……………………………………………………………………………………

"HEY GUYS, SAKURA'S ON!"

Because of the lack of events, many of the guys had left the room to walk around, talk of get snacks. But when they heard Sakura was on, they dropped whatever they were doing and sat on the couches to watch the television.

"She's going to verse this other girl for a scroll."

"My beautiful youthful cherry blossom will win for sure!" said Lee with fires burning in his eyes.

"We hope so." replied Naruto.

The truth was that none of them really knew how much she improved at all. All they saw were one or two new moves but that was all. But her speed and stamina did improve. The last they had seen her fight was the second chunin exam, but it wasn't that great. But she did surprise them with her super strength.

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

"I'll make sure to end this early for you. In the condition your in you will never beat me.

"I may be injured, but that's not gonna stop me from beating you and making it to the finals of this tournament."

"You got some spunk kid. I like that."

The girl reached behind her yukata and pulled out a sword. She removed it from it sheath and threw the sheath aside. Then she pointed the sword towards Sakura.

"You game?"

"Yeah."

Sakura pulled out a metal pole form her pouch and held it out. Then both girls let out a battle cry and ran for an attack. Metal clashed against metal a few times and then broke apart.

The pink-haired kunoichi began to pant and fell on her knees. Damn fighting hurt and it took up all her strength just to stay up and move.

"I have to admit pinky, you're pretty good."

Using her pole as support, Sakura stood up again. Then she picked up some and disappeared. Then she reappeared behind the girl and smacked her with the pole. The girl went back a few feet and then stood up. She seemed somewhat pissed.

"Never call me pinky."

"You're going to pay for that."

The girl got up again and charged at the kunoichi. Sakura managed to block some of her hits, but a couple got through. As a result she had a few extra cuts and bruises.

And this pattern of attack went one for a while until Sakura had enough. This was taking way too long. Sakura punched the ground and everything began to crumble. And the girl was taken down with it.

When Sakura walked over and peered inside the ditches, she saw that the girl had been knocked out. The kunoichi took her opponent out of the ground and searched through her pouch. It turned out that the girl only had one hate scroll and the rest were love scrolls.

But nevertheless, she got what she needed.

Sakura healed her cuts just enough so they would stop bleeding and re-bandaged them. Then she glanced at her clock. It was now 2 o'clock. She had to hurry back. So she put chakra to her feet and began run.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

There was only 5 minutes left and Sakura was not here yet. The girls began to worry and Anko kept checking her watch. It seemed to her that nobody else would make it out. But she still waited.

Now only one minute remained.

Now thirty seconds remains.

Then ten:

Nine

Eight

Seven

Six

Five

Four

Three

Two

Suddenly Anko heard cheering. Sakura had just ran out of her gate like a maniac and tripped. Her two scrolls laid on the floor next to her.

One

Zero

"All right, the second portion of the tournament is now over."

All three girls ran over to Sakura to congratulate her. They were all so happy she made.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Naruto and Lee were jumping up dancing all over the place. She had made it in the last second. Kakashi-sensei was right. He didn't need to worry.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

"All right you maggots follow me. This day isn't over yet."

Many of the contestants had a puzzled look but followed nevertheless. When Sakura sat up, she was met with a shooting pain and to make it worse she was exhausted.

"Sakura, daijobou?" asked Ino.

"Hai."

Sakura grabbed her shoulder as she stood up and wearily walked behind then others. Ino frowned at the girl and then caught. Sakura wasn't looking too good.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

They soon arrived in front of the battle tower. When they got inside, Sakura fell down on her knees and panted heavily. Ino looked at her in worry. After a few minutes she got up again and got a good look of the place. In front of all the contestants were their senseis, the godaime, Anko, and Genma. What was going on?

Anko stood in front and spoke. She told them to listen up and the godaime then came to speak.

"Congratulations on passing the second portion of the tournament. But all of you won't make it to the third. There is too many of you and according to the rules, we need to do preliminary rounds."

"But why?" asked a girl.

"As Anko told you before, during the third portion you will have a live audience and many prominent people are coming to watch the tournament. We can't waste their time with so many matches. They came to see the best of the best. There are 16 of you left out of the thirty we had. So only 8 will move on."

Then the godaime stepped back and Genma stepped forward. He began to speak.

"My name is Genma and I am the referee for the matches here and during the third portion. I will explain the matches to you. They are one on one fight to the death matches. I may interfere from time to time to prevent as many deaths as I can. So now I need you all to do something for me. If you feel that you are not up to the challenge right now please quit. You will be given no break. The matches will start right now."

A lot of the girls scoffed. Pretty much no one was injured there. Only the two girls that came out today were. But the first only had a scratch or two. But Sakura had bandages all over her and seemed in no condition to fight.

Ino couldn't' take it anymore and confronted Sakura.

"Sakura please quit. I'm really worried."

"No."

"Do you think I'm blind? Ever since you got out of that forest you could barely walk let alone stand. You've been injured ever since the first day when Sasuke appeared. Please quit. You're hurt enough already."

A few tears began to fall from her eyes and Ino began to wipe them.

"Please."

"No."

"If you won't then I will."

Ino began to raise her hand when Sakura grabbed it and brought it down.

"Don't even think about it."

"Why are you doing this?"

Now this caught Hinata's and Tenten's attention and they watched.

"You don't understand do you? This is more than just a tournament to me. It's a chance to prove myself. I was such a weak girl before so I worked hard at everything. I went through so much to get stronger. Damn it Ino I gave up everything for this! Now I need to prove to myself that I can be the best I can be and the best of the best are here. No one else and not even you can stop me form achieving my goals."

Sakura let go of her grip on Ino's hand and looked away. Ino looked a little startled and shakened.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

"OMG! Did you hear all the mean things Sakura said to Ino?"

"How troublesome!"

"I heard." replied Neji.

"It was just like the first exam…but with…"

Naruto looked down a minute and then quietly said:

"Sasuke."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Tsunade and Anko looked at the oink haired kunoichi from afar and studied her form. She was truly exhausted and cut up all over.

"Looks like you were right Tsunade-sama. Your apprentice isn't quitting." said Anko.

"I told you. Nothing is going to stop her, not even that snake."

"Have we heard anymore form him?" asked Kakashi.

"Afraid not." replied Anko.

"Then Sakura is safe for now. Don't worry."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"All right then. Since no one wants to quit we will begin the matches."

Genma then signaled Anko and she spoke into a microphone and a board appeared behind them.

"This board will randomly choose who your opponents will be. Now let's see who is up for the first match."

The board turned on and began to flip through names at lightning speed. It stopped a second later and said:

Haruno Sakura

VS

Yunhie Sen

Sakura smirked. She was first huh? She guessed they couldn't wait. A girl with silky dirty blond hair appeared from within the crowd as well. She wore a red yukata and had a wave hitai-ate. She had a huge smirk on her face.

Everyone was instructed to clear the floor except the opponents by Genma. As the three girls and Kakashi passed her, they wished her good luck. Ino still looked worried. There was nothing she could do now.

"Feh, looks like I hit the jackpot."

The girl took out a sword and unsheathed it.

"I won't even need to use any jutsus. This will be enough."

Sakura just took out her meta pole and positioned herself. She felt a little better because she healed herself a bit while she was standing there. She wasn't as exhausted as she was when she got out of the forest anymore. She was no longer panting or shaking, even though her body ached.

"When you're ready begin!"

Sen began to charge at Sakura. When Sakura tried to move she fell on her knees. Sen smirked and charged at the girl. Sakura naturally reacted and put up her pole. Metal clashed against metal.

Sakura thought she had avoided that attack. Everyone thought so as well until they took a closer look. Sen smirked.

Sakura had managed to avoid the attack but a part of Sen's sword was lodged in her shoulder. The kunoichi looked at it wide eyed. She didn't even notice it until now.

Sen's smirk grew wider. She now had the upper hand. She could place any attack on her and she wouldn't be able to avoid it in any way. So she…

TBC

……………………………………………………………………………………………

_**Ha! I'm so evil…….a cliffy… Anewayz… I hope you enjoyed this chappy… review and let me know what you thought about it….**_

_**Until next Time**_

_**Seguha**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Hey people… updating again... trying to get everything done quickly… once school starts I will have a lot less time to update... so here we go…**_

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto and anything else here that you don't think is mine… but I do own some stuff...did you people see the movie 3 opening on last week's episode. It was cool and Sakura was actually fighting…super strength and all…**

**TITLE: KUNOICHI RUMBLE**

**CHAPTER 6:**

**Last time:**

Sen began to charge at Sakura. When Sakura tried to move she fell on her knees. Sen smirked and charged at the girl. Sakura naturally reacted and put up her pole. Metal clashed against metal.

Sakura thought she had avoided that attack. Everyone thought so as well until they took a closer look. Sen smirked.

Sakura had managed to avoid the attack but a part of Sen's sword was lodged in her shoulder. The kunoichi looked at it wide eyed. She didn't even notice it until now.

Sen's smirk grew wider. She now had the upper hand. She could place any attack on her and she wouldn't be able to avoid it in any way. So she…

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Blood splattered on the floor as she dug the sword deeper into the kunoichi's shoulder. The girl grinned maniacally and then thrust her legs under the girl's throat and sent her flying into the air. Then she grabbed the girl's pole as she shot in the air and struck her hard in the gut making her spit out some blood. Then she took her sword and slashed her across the abdomen and gave another blow in her guts. The girl went flying back and hit the wall. Then she split out a mouthful of blood and fell limp on the floor. Her pink hair laid still around her head and she didn't make a sound.

"This match is over judge."

Then the girl smirked and looked at the pitiful kunoichi's body. Pathetic was the only word to describe her. Only one blow and she was already out.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Naruto nearly jumped out the door when Sakura had received those blows but stopped himself. She could do this. It wasn't over.

"Is that all…" questioned the Huyga.

"How troublesome!"

Naruto just seated himself firmly on the ground and took a deep breath. Then he closed his eyes and reminisced for a moment. Then he curled his fists into a ball.

"Don't lose faith in her just yet."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"After all that training… that's it…" said Anko.

Tsunade just watch carefully and closely. This match was still far from over. Her apprentice wouldn't go down so easily without a fight.

Ino tightened her grip on the railing and prayed to god that it wasn't going to end like this. Then she looked over to Kakashi and Gai for some reassurance. They saw her plea and flashed a smile and a thumbs up. Ino nodded in graciousness and looked back on the field.

'C'mon Sakura, you can do it.'

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Sen smirked and began to walk away from the field. The pitiful girl was still lying there. She let out a small laugh and picked up the pace. But she stopped when she heard a small groan. She quickly turned around and saw her opponent sitting up. She was panting heavily and her chest and arms were covered in blood and it was dripping on the floor as well.

"So you still got some fight left in you. Interesting."

Sakura's hands began to glow green and she pressed it over her wounds. She put in just enough chakra to close them and stopped. She couldn't waste all her chakra on healing herself. She barely had any left. Maybe only enough for two attacks.

The pink haired kunoichi wearily stood up and walked over to pick up her weapon. Then she folded it up and put it in her pouch. Sen just sneered at the girl's pitiful efforts and readied her sword.

"This match is over!"

Sen began to charge at the girl with her sword and this time was heading straight for the heart. She was only a foot away when she suddenly came to a stop. And to her surprise, she looked up to see her opponent firmly gripping the blade of her sword. Blood was dripping down her hand and she stayed steady.

"Never underestimate me or you'll regret it."

Then the girl tightened her fist and the sword broke into three separate pieces. Sen who was in shock paid no attention to the girl and therefore didn't see the fist coming her way. And the next thing she knew, she was hitting the cold hard wall.

"This ends now."

Sakura ran towards the girl and then disappeared and reappeared under the girl and thrusted a kick right on her neck and the girl went flying. Then Sakura shot herself up into the air and came down on the girl with a super chakra charged front rising kick on her chest. Both shinobi landed on the ground and Sakura was shot back. When the smoke cleared Sen could be visibly seen lying in the ground in a huge crater. Sakura laid face down a few feet away from her. As Genma went to examine Sen, Sakura sat up panting heavily.

"Winner, Sakura."

Loud cheering erupted from the girls and their sensei watched the scene quietly. But it was evident on their faces that they were pleased.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Naruto and Lee erupted into loud cheers and were dancing around. The others just sighed in relief. The tension began to leave the room.

"That was too close." stated Kiba

"How troublesome."

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Medics began to rush to the scene and began to check on Sen. From their actions Sakura could tell that the girl sustained heavy damage from the last attack.

"Quickly bring over the stretcher! She's got 5 minutes at most."

A stretcher was hurriedly brought over and the girl was gently placed on the stretcher and rushed out. The lead medic in the group approached Sakura and stopped for a minute and examined her. He was quite surprise. The girl should have died from that attack but was still alive. It was as though the girl had held back and tried to save her.

"Haruno Sakura, it would be a good idea if you came with us as well."

"No need. Just minor injuries. I'd rather watch the other matches."

"But you've lost a lot of blood and are low on chakra. It's a miracle that you're still awake."

Before Sakura got a chance to retort, Tsunade appeared by her side and helped her up.

"It's alright. I got this one. Tend to the other girl."

"Hai."

The medic then ran off the field. And Genma came out with a mop and began to clean up all the blood.

"Why'd you help me?"

"You were my apprentice you know. Besides I know how much this means to you."

"Arigatou."

Then Tsunade examined Sakura privately and healed all her wounds. The kunoichi then went to the washroom and washed the blood off her arms and legs. Then she cleansed her face and disposed all her bandages, even the ones apart of her outfit. Then she walked back up to the field and walked up the stairs to her teammates. They all congratulated her and then watched the match up board closely. It flashed and began to randomly select the candidates for the next match.

Yamanaka Ino

VS

Kazishawa Kim

Ino paused for a second but then walked down the stairs to the field. She glanced back at Sakura (whose clothes were soaked in blood) and put a smile on her face. If the kunoichi won in her condition, then she could win too.

Sakura flashed a reassuring smile at Ino and then winced a bit. Her vision was beginning to blur a little and her mind grew dizzy. Sakura shook it off. She was going to watch all the matches no matter what.

Ino arrived on the field and came face to face with her scoffing opponent. She had long lavender hair that went down to her waist and baby blue eyes. She had on a black knee-length dress with blue shorts underneath. Her arms were both wrapped in bandages as well as her legs. Her hitai-ate was nowhere to be seen.

"Let's get this over with quick blondie."

"With great pleasure."

Ino positioned herself to attack along with her opponents. On Genma's signal to start, the two charged at eachother with a battle cry and clashed. They started out with a little hand-to-hand but soon took out kunais and hurled them at eachother. Both opponents missed their intended targets and both shinobi backed up.

Ino grimaced. This match was going to nowhere at this rate. She needed to bind her opponent somehow and use her shintenshin on her. But that was the coward's way out… she was going to have to go out fighting. Then Ino smirked, but she could still use her shintenshin.

Ino got down on her knees and formed her fingers into a box. Her opponent seemed a little confused by her action.

"This match will be over soon."

"Don't count on it blondie."

The girl took out a kunai and charged at the girl. This was just perfect, she would get a direct hit.

"Shintenshin no jutsu!"

Ino's soul jumped right out her body and hit her opponent's body. Immediately the girl stopped and Ino's body slumped over. Then Kim's body shot up with Ino in control.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

"How troublesome. Again?"

When would that woman ever learn? That jutsu was useless in combat and only to be used in their team formation.

So...what was her next move?

Making the opponent forfeit was the coward's way out.

……………………………………………………………………………………..

Sakura steadied herself against the railing and focused her fleeting eyes on the field. Ino had used that jutsu on her and she was lucky enough to break free. But her opponent now might not have the same luck she did.

Sen (who is really Ino) raised her kunai and held it against her abdomen. This was going to hurt her more than it would Ino. A few seconds later she shoved the kunai into her abdomen and blood began to splatter out. The girl even coughed out some blood. Back at Ino's body, the same symptoms had formed.

"Kai."

Ino's spirit shot back to her body as she weakly stood up clutching her stomach from the pain. Her opponent was on her knees and panting heavily. The inflicting weapon laid on the floor next to her.

There was shock registered across everyone's faces. They had never expected Ino to do something like that. Now they held their breaths anticipating her next move.

Ino broke into a run and rammed her opponent in the gut where her wound lay with her elbow. The girl stumbled back in pain and gasped. Then Ino launched a jumping sidekick and the girl went flying back to the wall where she laid unconscious.

"Winner, Ino."

There was an eruption of cheers at the apartment and in the tower. Medics came out and began to tend to the two girls. They placed them both on stretchers and carried them out.

Ino emerged wrapped in bandages a few minutes later. She climbed the stairs to her teammates and was congratulated by all of them except Sakura.

"That was really…."

"What… unexpected?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks big forehead."

"No problem little miss piggy."

Sakura flashed Ino a smile but it was quickly replaced with pain. Sakura rubbed her eyes and opened them again.

"Daijobou Sakura?"

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

Kuso! Her injuries were getting to her. The kunoichi excused herself and half-walked and half-stumbled to the washroom. She slowly splashed her face with icy cold water and took a deep breath and let it out. Then she examined her complexion in the mirror. She looked horrible. She had bags under her eyes, her hair was all over, and her once bright orbs were now dull. Sakura sighed and reached into her pouch and pulled out a small pill bottle. She took out two and downed them with water. She splashed her face with water once again and patted her face dry with a towel. Now she was feeling a bit better and her vision wasn't bothering her that much.

Sakura walked out to the platform again and stood next to her teammates. Another match had already finished. There was a red-head and blue-head and the red-head won. Three matches were now done and there were 5 more to go.

Next came another match between two girls. There was a blond and a brunette. Their battle was short but fierce. In the end the brunette won. And the board flashed again for the next match.

Huyga Hinata

VS.

Nazishiwa Kure

The Huyga heiress shyly walked down the stairs and on to the field. She was dwindling her fingers as her opponent stepped out. She had black hair and brown eyes and her hitai-ate was nowhere to be seen.

"If you're ready let the match begin."

Hinata immediately activated her byakugan and got into a fighting stance. She took a deep breath and let it out. She could do this. Her opponent just smirked at her and scoffed.

"Dokugiri! (Poison Mist)"

Kure opened her mouth and a toxic gas began to spill out of her mouth. It became a smokescreen as well and covered the whole field. No one could see what was going on. Kure smirked again and launched a barrage of kunai and shuriken. There was no way she was going to escape from this.

But her smirk disappeared when the smoke began to rapidly clear and she could heard the clinking sounds of her weapons hitting the floor. And her expression was faced with shock.

Hinata's hands were traveling in each and every direction in amazing speeds. She had blocked all the attacks and blew away all the smoke.

"What's that?" asked Tenten dumfounded.

"**Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho." replied Sakura.**

**"You know?"**

**"I saw it when I trained with her on my weaponry. I was amazed. It's a variation of Neji's Hakkesho Kaiten. Hinata achieved it on her own through rigorous training. You could say that it is the absolute defense, even better than Neji's attack."**

**…………………………………………………………………………………………….**

**Neji stared dumfounded and in shock at the screen. When did his cousin learn such an attack? He never saw it. The Huyga glanced at her teammates who only grinned at her.**

**"She's stronger than you think." Shino stated.**

**"So it seems." Was the Huyga's only reply.**

**……………………………………………………………………………………………..**

**Back on the field Kure was fuming as she stared at the girl. She had now released her jutsu and was in a fighting stance.**

**"You little brat! No one has ever escaped that jutsu. You'll pay for that."**

**"I'm ready for anything. I'll never give up. That's my way of the ninja."**

**Kure just scoffed and shook her head. What a pathetic fool this girl was.**

**"Here's what I say to you and your stupid morals!"**

**Kure performed a few hand seals.**

**"Kaze no Yaiba! (Blade of wind)"**

**A blade composed entirely of wind appeared and slashed the poor heiress and sent her crashing into the wall. Hinata coughed out a little blood but then regained herself. **

**"I hope you liked my surprise."**

Hinata just panted and got into a fighting stance. Both girls charged into hand-to-hand combat. They continued for a few minutes blocking eachother's hits. Then Hinata saw an opening in her opponents attack. She used her jyuuken and hit her opponent square in the chest. All movement stopped for a minute and Kure then began to spit out blood. Hinata let go and she stumbled back and fell on her hands and knees. She coughed out more blood and then fell backwards hitting her head hard. Then she laid motionless on the floor with her eyes closed.

"Winner, Hinata."

Hinata just sighed and watched as the medics ran over to the girl. Hinata, to tell the truth, was really freaked out about her opponent's reaction to her attack. The medics hurriedly examined the girl and grew worried.

"Quick get her on the stretcher, there has been extensive damage to the heart. She has 5 minutes at best."

They medics gently laid her down and rushed her away from the field. Sakura jumped down on the field and brought Hinata up. The girl got a few congrats and then they all turned their attention to the board. It flashed once again and began it selection.

Tenten

VS.

Nami

Tenten immediately jumped down on the field ready to fight. She was totally psyched from all the battles. Now it was her turn to shine.

Her opponent stepped out just as confident. She had golden brown eyes and orange shoulder-length hair. She had a katana clinging at her sides confirming that she was probably a weaponist (is that even a word?) as well.

"Begin."

Tenten took out her wooden pole as Nami took out her sword. Both girls charged at eachother with a battle cry and their weapons kept on clashing. They broke apart and tried again. But this time when Tenten blocked, her pole broke in half. Afterall, it was wood. Tenten jumped back a few feet and kept her distance. And she made a note to herself to get a new pole. Maybe she could get a metal one like Sakura.

Nami just smirked at her and raised her sword. She came charging in and Tenten countered with a fuuma shuriken knocking the sword out of the girl's hand. Both weapons hit the wall and became lodged in it.

Tenten took advantage of her fuming opponent and took out a scroll. She bit her finger producing some blood and pressed the blood against then parchment. Then she twirled around the scroll and summoned a barrage of weapons heading to the girl in all directions.

Mani, who had not expected attack, did what a person would naturally do. She covered her head with her arms and laid low on the ground. Then the weapons came crashing down her and the area filled with smoke. When the smoke cleared, the girl was pinned to the ground and weapons were lodged everywhere. Blood was all around her and still dripping form her wounds.

"Winner, Tenten."

Tenten closed her eyes and began to look away until she saw Gai's solemn face. She forced herself to look at the scene before her. Afterall, it was her fault. The medics also came out rushing before her and quickly examined the girl. They unpinned her and placed her on a stretcher and rushed her out. They sure had their hands full today.

Tenten walked back up on the platform and was comforted a bit with a hug. It was a part of being a ninja afterall, she couldn't look away.

"Sakura-sama! Sakura-sama!"

A group of new medics rushed to then kunoichi and stopped in front of her panting.

"We need your assistance now or else some of these girls will die."

"Did you inform Tsunade-sama?"

"Hai. She is already there. I know you're injured and probably exhausted, but we really need your help."

"Let's go."

The medics ran off and Sakura ran after them with a wave of goodbye to her teammates. After she left the 7th match began. A red-head and a blue-head faced off and the red-head won.

Then came the 8th and final match. Rin confidently walked onto the field and faced her opponent.

"Begin."

Her opponent charged in and ran towards her. Rin just snapped her fingers and her opponent was engulfed in flames. When the flames disappeared, the girl's limp and bloody body laid still on the floor.

"Winner, Rin."

Rin walked back onto the platform and medics rushed out and carried the injured girl on a stretcher. Sakura who had seen the match on the televison in the medical room was in awe. All she did was snap her fingers and that was it.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

The boys all stared in amazement at the screen. They couldn't believe how well the matches went today. The girls had improved so much and it really showed. They focused on the televison again and waited for what was next.

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

Sakura stumbled on to the field just as Genma and Tsunade were going to inform the remaining contestants. Both the godaime and the kunoichi were exhausted. But they had managed to save the girl's lives and the others were taking care of the rest.

Sakura looked at the remaining finalists around her and smiled. Everybody that she had wanted to see was here.

"First congratulations to all of you for making it to the final portion of this tournament." began Genma. He cleared his throat and spoke again.

"It will take place one week from now at the battle arena. It will consist of one on one battles between you eight and the winner will be decided after the remaining two battle."

"The matches will be randomly selected like today and just as deadly. Then it will be shortly followed by the closing ceremonies." continued Tsunade. She cleared her throat and continued.

"We are giving you a whole week to tone your skills for the matches. Remember many important figures are coming out to watch these matches. This time it will be live. Understood?"

"Hai!" the contestants all chorused.

"You're all dismissed."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

The television was now turned off and the boys had left the apartment. They rushed over to meet their teammates. When they arrived they saw their senseis and all the kunoichi. Sakura was on Kakashi's back and had her eyes closed. When she heard all the footsteps she opened her eyes and was really happy to see everyone.

"Hey guys."

"Hey Sakura-chan! You did great today. Kakashi-sensei is she okay?"

"The godaime said she just needs to rest for a few days and she will be fine. The godaime healed her herself."

"That's good."

Then everyone started to chat when Kakashi shushed them. He put his finger on his lips and signaled them. Then he pointed at the girl sleeping peacefully on his back. Everyone just smiled and quieted down. They all knew she was exhausted and she really deserved a nap.

_**End of day Three**_

………………………………………………………………………………………………

One week had gone by and all the kunoichi were in tip top shape for the tournament. The Konoha eleven and their sensei were all walking down the road to the arena. When they arrived they all separated. The girls walked onto the field and everyone else took their seats. They were all excited and ready for the tournament. Soon the other four opponents arrived and cheers erupted when Genma and Tsunade walked down on the field. The finals had finally begun.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

_**So what do you think… review and let me know…thx for all your reviews for the last chappy…**_

_**Until Next Time**_

_**SEGUHA**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Hey guys! I am so sorry for such a long wait… its been like over a year since I updated this story and I'm terrible sorry about that…. First there was school then summer job and then school again... I was so short on time… and since its regents week and my exams are finished... I thought I'd update… I would like to thank all my loyal reviewers and readers who stuck by me and the new ones that came along recently... you guys made this story a hit!! It has 102 reviews for six chapters!! That's amazing… and don't forget to check out my sequel to a Ripple In Time when it is posted and will be coming soon to a computer near you... now here we go!**_

**DISCLAIMER****: You all know the drill….**

**TITLE****: KUNOICHI RUMBLE**

**Chapter 7**

**Recap:**

_One week had gone by and all the kunoichi were in tip top shape for the tournament. The Konoha eleven and their sensei were all walking down the road to the arena. When they arrived they all separated. The girls walked onto the field and everyone else took their seats. They were all excited and ready for the tournament. Soon the other four opponents arrived and cheers erupted when Genma and Tsunade walked down on the field. The finals had finally begun._

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"Welcome! Welcome everybody! I'm sure you are all excited to see what will unfold here today. We have 8 young and very talented Kunoichi with us today. They will battle it all out today to win the prize and given the important task to deliver vital information to the Nano country. It will be rough, intense and even painful to watch at times. I'm sure you will all enjoy it. So please just relax and settle down. The battles will begin shortly."

Once again cheers erupted from the crowd as Tsunade stepped down off the platform and escorted the contestants upstairs to the viewing decks. This would be where they would wait until their match was called and where they could view eachother's matches.

Sakura's green orbs scanned the field as the contestants were being led upstairs. Everything looked the same as last time, except now she was on the field instead of the bleachers. It almost felt surreal. But she wasn't able to clam down yet. Orochimaru and Sasuke could be hidden in the crowds and she would be ready for a surprise attack. Her shoulders tensed up a bit as she continued to mull over it. And to top that off, she spent most of her week under house arrest in bed, Tsunade wouldn't let her do anything until she was fully healed. She had gotten beat up badly during the exams. She had to be healthy for the finals because this time around, there was no break.

Her train of thought was soon broken when she felt a soft hand plop down on her shoulder. She looked up to see Tsunade. She had a look of concern in her eyes, which you didn't see pretty often.

"Everything will be alright, I promise. You'll do fine."

Sakura looked at Tsunade and then at the crowd, where both the royalty and the commoners were betting on their matches, and then at Tsunade again before nodding her head.

"Good."

Then Tsunade led her the rest of the way up. When she got to the viewing deck, she saw Kakashi along with the other senseis. They were all chatting with the other kunoichi wishing them good luck. Sakura just sighed and walked over to Kakashi.

"You ready Sakura?"

"I think so."

"Good because Naruto will kill you if you aren't."

Sakura looked confused for a moment and then turned her head to look at the direction he was pointing. And that's when she saw the Konoha 11 guys sitting there waving at them. Sakura just smiled and waved back.

"Sakura–chan! You rock! Now go beat those losers up!!!"

Sakura couldn't help but smile at Naruto's antics, which did earn him a glare from the others, especially the girls. She had almost forgotten about the guys. Just when she was about to turn around and go back, she caught a glimpse of something in the corner of her eyes. She turned her line of sight farther back and she saw the big screen which would display the matches that were going to occur today. And it seemed like it was the only change in the goddamn stadium.

Sakura just shrugged it off and turned back and walked to the front railing of the deck as she leaned against it. A few minutes later, Genma stepped up on the field and explained the rules for the matches. They were the same as the prelims and then the board started flashing and picked out the first contestants.

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Meanwhile Tsunade walked over to the viewing deck where the Kazekage was and sat down next to him.

"So, you're enjoying yourself Garra?"

"The battles haven't even started."

"The leaf shinobi are too occupied with the tournament to even notice you are here. I'm surprised Sakura didn't inquire about you, knowing that Kages and royalty will be here."

"I'll just surprise her at the end. Temari and Kankuro are here guarding this deck. I'm sure they'll want to see her. And besides, my money is on Sakura."

At this Tsunade sighed and shook her head. She didn't even know Gaara was capable of betting.

"In fact Tsunade, a lot of people's money is on her because of her encounter in the forest. And that Rin girl too, after what she did in the prelims."

At this Tsunade just nodded her head and turned back to watch the battles.

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**TENTEN**

**VS.**

**RIN**

A wave of shock spread throughout the deck and the guys when they saw those names flash on the board. The crowd meanwhile was cheering for Rin, especially those who had betted on her.

"Will these two contestant step down onto the field please?" Genma motioned.

Rin automatically appeared down on the field and waited patiently for Tenten to come down. Tenten gulped at this. This was really bad. She was done for, and her journey barely started. Sakura nervously glanced at Tenten. The odds were totally against her. She wouldn't stand a chance against that fire of hers. And because of the promise she had made with Rin, there was no way Rin would lose.

**Flashback**

"**What's your name?"**

"**Haruno Sakura."**

"**Watashi wa Rin."**

"**Nice to meet you."**

"**So how are you feeling?"**

"**I'm fine thanks to you. You saved me back there."**

"**It was nothing."**

"**How can I repay you?"**

"**Just promise me that you'll make it to the third portion of this tournament."**

"**It's a deal."**

**Then the girls shook hands on it and Sakura got ready to leave. She saw Rin head back .**

"**Where are you going?"**

"**I have already retrieved both scrolls."**

**End Flashback**

And to make matters worse, Rin had come to talk to her while she was training two days ago.

**Flashback**

"**Well, you seem to be working hard. Didn't you just get out of the hospital yesterday, you should still be resting."**

**Sakura stopped what she was doing and looked to see who the intruder was. To her surprise she found Rin standing before her. **

"**Not as much as I should be doing."**

**And then Sakura went back to punching and kicking the dummy, trying to ignore Rin.**

"**Well, it's nice to see you've kept up the end of your bargain."**

**This caused Sakura to stop and look at Rin. She was panting heavily as sweat dripped down her forehead and arms.**

"**What are you talking about?"**

"**You made me a promise remember? You made it to the third portion of the tournament. And now I'm here to ask of you another favor. I want you to promise me that we will face off in this tournament and you will last long enough to get to that point. I'm interested to see what you got."**

**And then Rin stuck out her hand. Sakura looked at it for a moment as she thought things over. She was a little scared by the power this girl held, but also wanted to experience it. And she wasn't one to break her word. So she firmly grabbed Rin's hand and they shook on it.**

"**It's a deal."**

"**I'm glad you've accepted. And just to let you know, I'll do whatever it takes to get to verse you, even if it means destroying my opponents on the battlefield."**

**End Flashback**

"Well are you coming down or do you wish to forfeit the match?" questioned Genma.

Tenten was still scared and in shock, but calmed down when Sakura put her hand on her shoulder.

"You'll be fine. Just go out there and do your best, win or lose. If things go bad, I'll personally jump down on the field and stop the match myself."

This caused Tenten to clam down a bit and she put a small smile on her face.

"Thanks Sakura."

"Oh, I almost forgot. Here, take this."

Sakura reached into her pouch and pulled out her folded up metal rod and handed to Tenten.

"This should help you. Keep it, it's yours."

"But Sakura, this is yours.. I can't…."

"Its all right, there's more where that came from. Now get down there and be the warrior you are."

Tenten just nodded and jumped down into the field. And Rin walked up to meet her in the middle of the field.

"Are both shinobi ready to begin?"

Both Tenten and Rin nodded.

"Start!"

And with that, Genma jumped out of the way to let the battle start. Tenten took out the rod that Sakura gave her and opened it and got into her stance. Then she charged at Rin swinging it at her. The red-haired kunoichi dodged it effortlessly and then countered, which Tenten blocked. Then the two started again, but this time, Tenten wasn't so lucky and took the brunt of her blows. It knocked her back into the walls and caused her to drop the rod. Then Rin backed up a bit and snapped her fingers continuously sending streaks of flame towards Tenten. The weaponist quickly grabbed her rod and began to quickly dodge the flame. She barely made it at one point. Rin then followed up with a secondary assault of shuriken. Tenten blocked them with her rod.

By now Tenten was panting very heavily because of all the running she was doing, but Rin didn't even seem to break a sweat. Tenten dropped to her knees to catch her breath. Rin took advantage of this and shot a flame towards her.

"Tenten! Move!"

Tenten broke out of her reverie when she heard Sakura scream and then she saw the flame coming towards her. She quickly dropped the rod and moved away, and made it, barely. The flame had grazed a part of her arm and burned her skin. Her rod, lay a few feet from her and was bright red. There was no way she could use it now, it would burn her.

Tenten sighed. That had been close, too close. She let her guard down and it was almost the end of her. She looked up to see the pink-haired kunoichi, who seemed relieved as well. And the guys seemed to be relieved too as well.

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"Man, that was too close!" said Naruto.

"How troublesome."

"If Sakura hadn't yelled out like that, she would have been a goner." said Kiba.

"Like I told you guys before, she's my teammate and I know her well. And Sakura won't ever hesitate to help."

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"I must say, you're stronger than you look. But it won't be enough Tenten. I aim to get to the top and that means defeating you. I'm sorry."

And with that, Rin charged in a delivered a kick to Tenten's face and slammed her into the wall. She continued with a series of kicks and punches and left Tenten unable to defend herself. And when Tenten was down on the ground injured, she picked her up by her collar and was ready to give the final attack. She was about to snap her fingers when a kunai whizzed past her face and hit the wall behind her. She looked at the direction it came from and saw Genma walking towards them. So she let go of Tenten gently.

"This match is over. Winner Rin! She'll be moving on to the next round."

And with that, the crowd exploded into cheers and Rin quietly walked off the field and up to the deck. Tenten followed soon after. She didn't sustain that many injuries except the burn on her arm. The medics fixed it and sent her back up. When she came back up, she was greeted with a hug from Sakura.

"You did well Tenten."

"Thanks Sakura. Just do me a favor and win yours."

Sakura just nodded and let Tenten go back to greet the others. Then she leaned over the railing once more, relieved Tenten was okay. Then she looked over to see the guys. They weren't upset at all. They were pleased with what Tenten had done and were telling her she did a good job. Then Sakura turned back to see the board, which was selecting the next match.

**YAMANAKA INO**

**VS.**

**HIKARI LIU**

With that, both kunoichi jumped on the field, poised for battle. Ino observed Hikari for a second. She was a tall and skinny red haired girl with dark green eyes and she didn't look that tough. But, looks could be deceiving. And she knew that she couldn't win this battle with only a stab again.

"Begin!"

And with that, Ino charged in and began flinging kunai at the red-headed girl. She dodged them effortlessly and was very agile as well.

"She's fast!"

And Ino jumped in again and tried to land kicks and punches on her, but missed every time. And when Hikari countered, she couldn't dodge the blows and they hit her. She was thrown back into the wall and had the air blown out of her. But she quickly composed herself and got out of the way just in time to dodge the next blow.

"Run all you want. It won't help you!"

And with that, Hikari made a number of hand signs and muttered something under her breath. And just like that, her right arm turned to water. Then she thrusted it towards Ino and grabbed her. The water began to wrap around her like rope and she was held up in the air.

'What is it? Its just water, but if feels like I'm wrapped around in tentacles or something.'

She tried to wriggle out, but she couldn't.

'And it's strong too.'

"It'll take more than just brute strength to beat my kekkei genkai. I have the ability to turn my body into water anything anywhere. It makes me fast and fluent in everything I do. And it's a very handy jutsu too. No one has gotten me yet."

Then she leapt up into the air and went towards Ino.

"Houshou!"

Using the palm of her hand, she thrusted it into Ino's chest and sent her flying into the wall. Ino gasped in pain as she fell down and coughed up some blood.

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Meanwhile, Sakura looked down, worried for Ino. She was at a major disadvantage with that kekkei genkai. She didn't know much about water techniques at all.

"C'mon Ino. Think of something and quick."

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Ino was now dodging water thrusts that were being thrown at her. And she knew she was in a very bad situation. All she could do was dodge and she wasn't even able to land a single blow on her opponent. She wouldn't last much longer if this kept up.

'C'mon Ino, think! What would Shikamaru do in this situation?'

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Shikamaru just sat there wondering how his teammate would do. She wasn't the very best or strongest ninja, but she found herself around it. He wasn't even sure if she would have made it this far. She definitely had luck on her side.

'What will you do Ino?'

"Hey Shikamaru, do you think she can win this one?"

Shikamaru just leaned back and let out a groan as Chouji continued to munch on his chips.

"Troublesome Women!"

At this, Chouji just laughed and went back to watching the battle.

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Ino flung some kunai at Hikari, but she just caught them in her watery hands and dropped them to the ground. And every time, she would sneer at Ino's futile attempts.

'Alright, got to try something new.'

As Ino was dodging blows, she was attaching an explosive note to her kunai. But before she could throw it, she was knocked up balance and held up in the air by the water again. This time, they got her feet and she was upside down. And just as she was flung back to hit the wall, she threw her kunai at Hikari. On impact, it exploded, but Hikari turned her body completely into water and slithered away. At the same time, Ino hit the wall, and fell on the ground. But when Hikaru reformed back into her human form, she had small burn bruises over her body.

"I guess even water's not invincible, huh?"

At this remark, Hikaru growled and charged towards Ino.

"This time, you're finished!"

Hikaru ran towards Ino and kicked her into the air. She then turned her hand into water and engulfed Ino's face in it.

"You'll drown to death."

'Shimatta! I didn't get to take a good breath. This isn't good. I can't hold out for much longer. I have to do something.'

Ino, weakly, began to reach her hand into her pouch and was digging around for something discreetly. Hikari, too overconfident about winning, didn't even notice. Luckily, she had one more kunai left that had an explosive note attached to it. And then she took it out and stabbed Hikari in the chest. The red-head gasped out in pain and a few seconds later, the explosion went off. She dropped Ino and was blown back into the stadium walls. When the smoke cleared, she could be seen laying knocked on the ground.

"Winner, Ino! She will be moving on to the next round."

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"Well what do you know, the troublesome women actually did it."

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"Nice job Ino-pig."

"Thanks Forehead."

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The screen began to go off again and the next match was chosen.

**HYUUGA HINATA**

**VS**

**LIN AKIYOSHI**

This time, another red-head jumped onto the field. Hinata followed suit shortly after. She was a little nervous, but she knew she could do it. Hinata observed her opponent for a moment to see if she could observe anything about her. She was wearing a sleeveless tee with a jacket over it and long pants. And her hitai-ate was nowhere to be seen. Her attire seemed a little weird for a ninja, but she shrugged it off.

"Begin!"

With that, both fighters readied their stances.

"Byakugan!"

Hinata activated her kekkei genkai and began to charge at her opponent with her jyuken. Her opponent dodged her attacks and attacked back, which she blocked. Then Hinata took out some kunai and threw them at her opponent. It hit her in her right arm, but she saw no look of pain on the girl's face. Instead there was a smirk.

"Nice try. But you're gonna have to do better than that."

And on that note, she pulled off her jacket and everyone was shocked by what they saw. Her right arm was not flesh but made out of metal.

"This baby is all I'm going to need to defeat you."

Then Lin bit her finger and smeared some blood on top of the metal and muttered something under her breath. And then a sword flashed out of her metal arm.

"Let's go!"

Lin charged at Hinata and began to attack. Hinata countered at much as she could, butt she mostly had to dodge. But when she was dodging, she was using her Byakugan to scan and analyze her opponent's moves to look fro a opening. She saw that no other part of her body was metal, but couldn't find the opening she was looking for. So, she tried a different style of attack to find an opening. The next time Lin came in to attack, Hinata blocked her sword with a kunai and used her jyuken on here. Lin managed to pull away at the last second. Hinata continued the attack the same way and soon found what she was looking for.

'There! Between her shoulder and her chest.'

Lin came charging in again, and this time Hinata took the hit and latched on.

"Let go of me!"

And without a word, Hinata hit her in her vulnerable spot with her jyuken and continued to hit her there until she was knocked unconscious.

"Winner, Hinata! She will move on to the next round."

And when the field was cleared and everyone was attended to, the final match was called.

**HARUNO SAKURA**

**VS.**

**FENG LING**

"Will the final two kunoichi step down onto the field please."

At the same time, a brunette jumped onto the field with Sakura. She had hazelnut eyes and had a look of sincerity in her face. And she did look strong as well.

"All right, let the final match of this round begin!"

For the first moment, neither of the two made a move. Getting tired of this, Sakura charged, but the girl made no signs to show she was moving. But just as she was about to hit Feng, her attack was deflected back and she was sent rolling through the ground.

'What in the world just happened. My attack didn't even touch her and I was flung back. And there was nothing there. Alright, mou ikkai.'

Sakura charged in once again and tried to hit Feng. She was deflected once again and flung back, but she saw a glimpse of something. She hit the wall and had the air knocked out of her. She slowly composed herself and stood up.

'Is it some sort of shield or something. If it is, of what? It seems to be injuring me every time I attack.'

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"What in the world is going on? Does this girl have a shield or something?" asked a surprised Tsunade.

"Whatever it is, Sakura is going to have a challenge on her hands. Besides, this battle just got very interesting," replied Gaara.

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"Neji!"

"Right. Byakugan!"

On Shikamaru's cue, Neji activated his kekkei genkai.

"The next time Sakura attacks, she what you can find."

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"Hinata!"

Hinata just shook her head.

"Byakugan!"

In the back, where the senseis were, Gai nudged Kakashi to use his Sharingan. Kakashi just nodded and lifted his hitai-ate from over his eye.

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Sakura stood up once more and attacked again. She was sure it was a shield, but couldn't make out what it was made up of. She was flung back again, and a few sparks were fizzing around her.

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"It's a shield alright, but I'm not sure what it's made of," said Neji.

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"She's gonna have to figure that part out by herself," continued Hinata.

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"Don't worry, She'll figure it out. She's a smart girl," said Kakashi.

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Sakura kept on attacking, but was getting nowhere. She was wasting a lot of energy and Feng hadn't even moved an inch. She couldn't keep getting injured. So for now, she decided to resort to kunai and shuriken. She began throwing them at the shield, hoping she would see something. There was small sparks but not much.

'Wait, sparks? Could it be… well, there's only one way to find out.'

Sakura reached into her pouch and began to fiddle around for something.

"Just give up kid, no one has ever gotten through my shield. It's pointless."

"I wouldn't get so cocky yet."

She finally stopped fiddling and pulled out a small bottle from her pouch.

'This isn't exactly water, but a liquid, nonetheless. It'll have to do.'

She poured some the substance out and began to cover them like bubbles with her chakra. Then flung them towards the shield. As soon as they made contact, there was a reaction and steam began to form and streaks of lightning could be seen.

'One more time, just to make sure.'

She repeated the attack again and got the same results.

'That has to be it. Her shield is made with electricity.'

Even though she now knew what it was made of, she was served with another problem of beating it. Electricity wasn't really her thing.

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"Did she found out what it was?" asked Naruto.

"I think so," replied Neji, "She's probably thinking of a way to counteract it."

"What is it?"

"I don't know."

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"Did she figure it out?" asked Ino.

"Probably," replied Kakashi.

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"She's figured it out, but how will she defeat it now?" asked Tsunade.

"Using her head," replied Gaara.

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Sakura had come up with a theory but she had to test it. She took at a few more kunai and flung them at all sides of the shield.

'The top's protected, so is the front, and the sides. But what about…'

To her surprise, the kunai she sent on the bottom got through and went to the other side.

'That's where I need to attack.'

Sakura stood up once again and had a smile on her face this time. She reached into her pouch and pulled out two smoke bombs. She set them off and the whole field was covered with a fog. No one could see anything. Then people heard the ground cracking

and saw it breaking apart. No doubt, it was Sakura's super human strength.

When the smoke cleared, Feng had moved to another position, but was unharmed. Sakura was nowhere to be seen.

"Where did that brat go?" said Lin.

A few seconds later, the ground cracked open from under her and Sakura flung right out and landed an punch to her face. She was flung back into the walls.

"How did you?"

"Even the best defenses have a vulnerable spot. Yours was the bottom. But I must say, you had me confused for a while. Electricity, who would have thought?"

"You brat!" she spat angrily.

Feng got up and charged towards Sakura and attacked. She easily dodged, hitting Feng in the process.

"Face it, this match is over."

Sakura flung Feng into the air and jumped ahead of her. And without any chakra, she slammed her leg into Feng's gut and she shot down and hit the ground. When the smoke cleared, Feng was knocked unconscious in a crater and Sakura landed gently next to Genma.

"Winner Sakura!"

The crowd erupted into cheers. Many of the royals were happy because they won their bets and such.

"Even without chakra, she packs a powerful kick," said Tsunade.

"She is stronger than you think. Just ask Naruto. He's gotten the brunt of it," at this Tsunade laughed.

Before the next round began, contestants were given 10 minutes to fix themselves up. Sakura was healed by the medics and such. And the guys and gals were congratulating her. Sakura was quite proud of herself. She was able to abstain from using special attacks early in the tournament. She would need them for Rin.

Soon 10 minutes quickly passed and everyone returned to their seats and on the deck. Genma came out once again to commence the matches.

"Alright, round 2 of the finals will begin. This round will decide the final two kunoichi who will be fighting to win this tournament. The matches will be randomly selected again."

And the board starting to work again to display the first two names.

**YAMANAKA INO**

**VS**

**HARUNO SAKURA**

This came as a shock to the Konoha 11 and their senseis. The last time these two faced off was the first chunin exam and it wound up as a tie. At this twist of fate, Genma smirked. He remembered their match very well. But they had both changed a lot since then. This time would be different he could tell.

Ino momentarily glanced at Sakura and then jumped down on the field. Sakura sighed at this. This was the last thing she wanted to deal with right now, and to top it off, she was still tired from her match before. Why did she have to go first? Sakura sighed once again and jumped down on the field.

"Look Ino, I should tell you something before this match begins. This battle will be nothing like last time and this time I won't hold back. I'm going to do everything in my power to beat you. I have a goal to accomplish and I won't let you stand in the way of it. So if you're ready, I'd like to get this over with. I don't want to do this, but I have no choice."

Ino didn't reply, but got into her fighting stance. Sakura followed suit.

"Begin!"

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_**So what did you think? Was it good? I haven't written in a while.. so I'm wondering… anewayz,,, I hope you enjoyed this long chapter,,, don't forget to review!!!!**_

_**Until Next Time**_

_**SEGUHA**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Alright……it's me back again with another installment of this story. My goal is to update all my stories this summer and I plan to do so… oh…. Btw….The SEQUEL for A RIPPLE IN TIME is up. It is called ATONEMENT. Check it out. I would like to thank all my wonderful reviewers for their support and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Don't forget to review!**_

**Disclaimer****: I obviously don't own Naruto… btw… the filler arc with the fire temple is getting very interesting…. It seems that Sakura is going to get her first real battle since sasori.. She's versing the leader of the bandit groups.. I'm very excited to watch it.. sry for the spoilers to those who have not seen the episode yet!**

**Title****: Kunoichi Rumble**

**Chapter 8****:**

**Recap:**

"_Alright, round 2 of the finals will begin. This round will decide the final two kunoichi who will be fighting to win this tournament. The matches will be randomly selected again."_

_And the board starting to work again to display the first two names._

_**YAMANAKA INO**_

_**VS**_

_**HARUNO SAKURA**_

_This came as a shock to the Konoha 11 and their senseis. The last time these two faced off was the first chunin exam and it wound up as a tie. At this twist of fate, Genma smirked. He remembered their match very well. But they had both changed a lot since then. This time would be different he could tell._

_Ino momentarily glanced at Sakura and then jumped down on the field. Sakura sighed at this. This was the last thing she wanted to deal with right now, and to top it off, she was still tired from her match before. Why did she have to go first? Sakura sighed once again and jumped down on the field._

"_Look Ino, I should tell you something before this match begins. This battle will be nothing like last time and this time I won't hold back. I'm going to do everything in my power to beat you. I have a goal to accomplish and I won't let you stand in the way of it. So if you're ready, I'd like to get this over with. I don't want to do this, but I have no choice."_

_Ino didn't reply, but got into her fighting stance. Sakura followed suit._

"_Begin!"_

* * *

Sakura readied herself as she charged in at Ino with a chakra scalpel in her hand. She didn't want to hurt Ino, so she kept it to a minimum. Sakura swiped her hand at Ino, which she managed to dodge, barely. Ino countered by throwing a few shuriken which Sakura countered with a few kunai. Ino then charged in and went to hit Sakura. She countered with punches of her own and managed to get a few through and hit Ino in the chest. Ino went flying back and rolled in the dirt when she landed. It had hurt. A lot.

'Even without chakra, Sakura always packs a good punch. But she's going easy on me.'

Ino picked herself up as she tried to think of a way she could get a hit in on her best friend. She couldn't use her mind techniques because Sakura had already beaten them. There was one thing left, physical harm.

'Sorry Sakura'

Ino took out a few kunai and wrapped them in explosive tags and then clipped them to her side so they were available for use. She then began to run to charge for her attack. She began by throwing normal kunai at Sakura which she skillfully dodged and then countered with her own barrage of weapons. Ino dodged those and threw her first kunai with the explosive tags. Sakura noticed them at the lasts second and was able to dodge the attack. She then threw another one, which Sakura also dodged. She did this a few more times and until Sakura had to stop to take a breath.

'Chikuso! I only have four explosive tags left. I got to make these count.'

Sakura panted as she tried to catch her breath. Ino was really making her work for it. She now wondered if she should have been so easy with her from the start. Ino had definitely gotten stronger and she seemed to have a good plan up her sleeves. The problem was that Sakura didn't know what it was. She poised herself to get ready.

Ino took a breath as she charged at Sakura and threw one of the kunai. It flew by Sakura's ear and lodged in the ground behind her. She threw another one and it flew by Sakura's other ear and lodged in the ground as well. Ino then charged in with a barrage of punches and Sakura blocked all of them while being pushed back by their force. Then Ino threw the last two kunai and Sakura jumped back to dodge them.

"I got you."

Sakura, confused by that remark, looked around her to see that she was in the center with four kunai on her sides. Ino sent her chakra through them and then they went off. There was a huge explosion and everybody was taken back by it. A smog of smoke appeared and they couldn't see Sakura or the part of the field she was on at all.

* * *

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled as he got out of his seat.

"Man, I never knew Ino could be this ruthless," remarked Shikamaru.

Meanwhile, the other guys hoped she was alright.

* * *

"Sakura!" Tenten yelled.

"Oh no! What did Ino do?" whispered Hinata.

Kakashi looked grimly into the field as there was still a huge cloud of smoke. It didn't look like Sakura was able to get herself out of that one. This wasn't good.

* * *

Tsunade tightened her grip on the handles of her chair as she watched tensely. Gaara had a grim look on her face as well. No one had expected this outcome. They never knew that Ino was ruthless enough to use such an attack on her best friend.

"Sakura," Tsunade whispered.

* * *

Genma watched in disbelief as he waited for the smoke to clear. He couldn't believe it. This battle was nothing like the last time they fought. He never knew Ino was so ruthless and he had expected more from Sakura than she had delivered.

Slowly, but surely, the smoke began to clear as the signs of what had happened began to become clear. They were broken tree branches which Sakura had fallen through and she had flown through and hit the wall, which she was now lying on. She slowly lifted her head up as she began to cough. They were several bruises and burns on her body as she struggled to stand up. At her first attempt, she fell on her knees and used the wall to balance herself as she stood up again. She was now panting heavily and was out of breath. She had managed to avoid the brunt of the attack but was still heavily injured. She thanked the lonesome tree that it was there.

Sakura composed herself and slowly began to walk forward, as she healed some of the serious injuries. It was really painful and she knew better than to continue but she couldn't stop. She had promised Rin she'd make it.

Sakura continued to walk forward as she came face to face with Ino. She took her hand and grabbed Ino by the front of her shirt. Everyone in the audience was silent, even Genma. He knew he should have stopped the match, but couldn't. He didn't feel that it was over.

"Baka! What the hell is wrong with you! You could have killed us both!"

"Sakura… Gomen… I didn't mean to …"

Ino never got to finish her sentence as Sakura swiftly hit her on the back of the neck knocking her out. She then set Ino down gently as she fell on her butt panting heavily.

Genma came out of his shock and swiftly raised his hand.

"Winner…… Sakura!"

And with that, the audience came out of their reverie and began to cheer. The Konoha 12, their senseis, and the Kages all sighed in relief. Tsunade stood up and went down into the medical tent to swiftly heal Sakura. The final match would be up soon and she needed to be ready.

After everybody settled down and Ino was transported back up to the platform, Genma called the next match.

**HYUUGA HINATA**

**VS**

**RIN**

Hinata nervously went down on the field as Rin followed suit. She had a smile on her face and seemed confident that she was going to win. This made Hinata more nervous as she poised herself to fight.

"Byakugan!"

Rin poised herself to fight as well as Genma got ready to signal the start of the fight.

"Begin!"

* * *

"How are you feeling Sakura?"

"Painful."

Tsunade just smiled as she got to work. She surveyed Sakura's injuries to detect the damage. They weren't too bad but still needed to be treated so Sakura could fight and she had a feeling Sakura had a big fight coming up.

"If I am going to get you ready for your final match then it's going to take a lot of chakra. Shizune!"

"Hai Tsunade-sama!"

"I nee your help. Help me heal Sakura quickly."

"Hai."

* * *

Rin charged at Hinata with her fire as she frantically dodged the swift attacks. Hinata was at a big disadvantage here and she knew it. Hinata dodged another one of Rin's fire attacks again as she kept charging towards her. After a few minutes of dodging, Hinata became tired and began to lose speed. This time, Rin came at her with a punch and took her by surprise, sending her back a few feet.

Hinata got up as fast as she could and reactivated her byakugan. Rin wasted no time and charged again. Hinata barely managed to dodge her fire barrage and was hit by some of the shuriken that followed.

Rin smiled as she threw down two smoke bombs. Then she sent a huge barrage of fire towards Hinata. As expected, the smoke cleared as well as her fire because of Hinata's Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho. And as soon as Hinata stopped her attack, she charged in a delivered a hard blow to Hinata's chest which sent her flying back in to the wall. In the process, Hinata hit her head and fell unconscious.

"Winner, Rin!"

The crowd erupted into cheers once again, not for their match, but because the final match was coming up. Genma announced a 10 minute break and then the final match and the closing ceremonies would occur.

Tsunade was still with Sakura in the tent as Sakura began to move around to see if everything was alright with herself.

"How do you feel Sakura, I think we did a good job."

"I feel pretty good."

Tsunade placed some pills in her hand and Sakura took them.

"You should be fine Sakura. But keep in mind, you're not fully healed."

"Arigatou Tsunade –sama!"

"Good luck!"

And with that, Sakura left the tent and began to walk up to the platform where Rin and the others were waiting for her. Now, Sakura no longer had all the bumps and bruises on her body and she looked like she was in good shape. When she stepped on the platform, the first person she saw was Ino. Ino had a sad look on her. She felt guilty for being so reckless and hurting her best friend.

"Daijobou Ino! I'm fine. Just never use that attack on your comrades again."

At her comment, Ino lightened up and smiled back at her. She then walked to the others and they began to congratulate her for her wins after they checked to see if she was okay. Hinata had woken up and was there as well.

"Ne Sakura-chan! You think you're ready?"

"Baka! What kind of question is that?"

"Gomen Sakura-chan! You know I'm kidding. Go and kick Rin's ass on that field!"

Sakura smiled at Naruto's comment. It was just like him to say something like that. Sakura waved her hand goodbye as she walked over to Rin. Rin was already waiting for her and held her hand out. Sakura took her hand and they shook hands.

"So, you kept your promise again. I must say Sakura, I'm really looking forward to this battle. Let the best kunoichi win!"

"Yeah, let the best kunoichi win."

And with that, they parted and Sakura went back to the Konoha 12 as they waited for the final match to be announced. It was now or never and they both knew it.

In a few minutes, the screen lit up and Genma called the match.

**HARUNO SAKURA**

**VS**

**RIN**

Both kunoichi jumped down on the field and went to their respective sides and poised themselves for battle. Genma nodded to signal that he was going to start the battle.

"This is it. The final match will begin and the winner takes all."

He paused for a second as both Rin and Sakura nodded back at him.

"Begin!"

And with that, Genma jumped out of the way and the battle commenced.

* * *

_**So what do you think? I hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget to review!**_

_**Until Next Time,**_

_**Seguha**_


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